


It All Goes Back To Bowlby: Ainsworth Edition

by mossystark, professional_benaddict



Series: IAGBTB au [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Ageplay, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Comfort, Daddy Kink, Daddy Tony, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Halloween, Halloween Candy, Light Angst, Little Peter, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Age Play, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pacifiers, Pumpkin carving, Scary Movies, Sleepy Cuddles, Stress Relief, pull ups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2020-12-09 10:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20993300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mossystark/pseuds/mossystark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict/pseuds/professional_benaddict
Summary: A collection of fluffy ageplay oneshots, set as extra scenes of It All Goes Back To Bowlby. Not exactly necessary to read the first story, but will be helpful.Not in chronological order.





	1. Tony's Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! 
> 
> truth is, me and rafni honestly grew to love the IAGBTB!versions of tony and peter so much, like they were our children or something. we decided we didn't want to go into a whole new fic with them, but rather just have some fluffy regression scenes with the characters, as so much of our last fic was angst-based. there are tiny mentions of angst here and there, but it's always fixed with cuddles and stuffies. 
> 
> hope you guys enjoy these extra scenes!

Peter usually woke up early when he was in little space, but today he woke up even _earlier_ than usual for a very special reason. He blinked groggily to clear his vision, and a wide smile soon spread across his face as he remembered what day it was. He looked over to see his Daddy still fast asleep next to him, and shoved the covers off of him so that he could clamber on top of the man as he laid in bed. The boy began poking gently at Tony's face, all while whispering softly to get the man to wake up.

“Hmm, nooo...” Tony groaned lowly when he felt a familiar weight on his stomach. With his eyes still closed, he grabbed the pillow from Peter’s side of the bed and hit the boy with it lazily. Of all days, didn’t he deserve to sleep in on this particular day?

Peter squealed, holding his arms to one side to block the pillow from hitting him in the stomach. "Yeeeeees, geddup, geddup, geddup! 'S Daddy's birthday, is your birthday, geddup!" He grinned, his hands now squishing the man's face and tossing his head from side to side against the pillow. "You gotta geddup!"

“Oh, God... Kid!” Tony groaned out a laugh when Peter began shaking his head. He grabbed the boy’s wrists and tugged him down to his chest so that they were laying down together. “And what’s that about birthdays?” He grumbled, still half asleep and pretending to not know. Birthdays had lost their appeal to Tony many years ago, but the boy seemed to have other plans.

Peter only seemed to get more giddy when the two of them were chest to chest. “‘S your birthday, Daddy!” He said excitedly, wriggling up to press kisses all over the man’s face. “Got you presents, ‘n a card! Pancakes! Birthday cake for Daddy!” He rambled, so excited that his thoughts barely seemed to make any sense when he said them out loud.

“Oh, baby.” Tony smiled almost shyly and finally opened his eyes to look back at Peter. The boy was shining brighter than the sun itself. “You didn’t have to do all that.” He said, brushing back the boy’s wide curls with his hand. Perhaps birthdays weren’t that bad after all, Tony thought.

“Yeah I did, it’s Daddy’s birthday!” Peter replied, his smile turning from excited to loving when the man’s hand pushed through his hair. “‘S Daddy’s special day, ‘n I gotta let him know how special he is!” He said brightly. “We can make pancakes, ‘n play with Spidey ‘n Moby-obi, ‘n open your presents, ‘n have lots of kisses!”

“That sounds amazing, baby. You’re so sweet.” Tony smiled fondly, moving his hands to cup Peter’s cheeks and bring him down to a sweet kiss on the lips. “Giving your ol’ man a whole special and fun day.” He smiled, stroking Peter’s flushed cheeks with his thumbs.

Peter nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned forward for his kiss. “All for Daddy, ‘s Daddy’s fun day.” He murmured, burrowing his face into the crook of Tony’s neck while he laid flat on top of him. “We can watch the buh- baseball too, if you want.” He added. Usually Peter hated watching baseball while in littlespace, as he found the game too slow-paced and tended to get distracted easily, which meant that Tony never got to watch much of it.

“You sure about that?” Tony asked, just to be sure that Peter was okay with him watching baseball on his laptop. He had gotten quite a taste of the sport since they had started living together. “We can watch something you want before the game starts, how about that? Or you can pick dinner for today?” He added, trying to make a compromise.

Peter pursed his lips together as he thought to himself. “Paw Patrol?” He eventually suggested, tilting his head to look at his Daddy with his patented puppy dog eyes. He soon sat up as well, his hands balled up in Tony’s shirt as he straddled the man’s stomach with his legs.

“You’re starting to love that show, aren’t you?” Tony teased, meaning it as a yes and moved his hands to rest on Peter’s hips. 

Now that they were living together it meant that Peter could regress far more and often with Tony around to look after him. The boy still loved his legos and stuffies, but now they had also gotten into Little shows and foods as well. The pacis were still a rarity, but Tony cherished those moments extra whenever Peter felt Little enough to want to use it.

Peter nodded. “‘S got the puppies! I wanna puppy…” He whined, jutting his bottom lip out. He giggled lightly when Tony’s hands rested on his hips, and placed his own on top of them to try and pry them away from him, as the light touch was tickling him. “Can we get one? Pleeeeeeeeeease?”

“I’m afraid not, little love.” Tony said honestly. The expenses would be way too much for them to handle. “But, you can go work at the shelter in town? They got lots of puppies there that you can play with and help feed and such.” He suggested. 

Finding work for Peter had been a lot harder than for Tony considering the boy’s far more fragile state of mind. At least now the boy had a part time job at the supermarket, but it wasn’t great still.

Peter pouted even more at the idea of work. If it was up to him, he and his Daddy would stay at home together all day, playing games and cuddling. “Wanna puppy… Get a puppy for Daddy’s next birthday!” He said, perking up as he remembered that it was Tony’s birthday. “Presents, presents, you gotta open your presents, Daddy! Pancakes!” He began bouncing lightly where he sat on Tony’s stomach, but was careful not to put all of his weight on the man.

“Okay, okay, no jumping on me, please!” Tony laughed, keeping some of Peter’s weight off of his stomach with his hands on Peter’s hips. “Let’s go make some pancakes then. Do you want nutella and banana like last time?” He asked, ushering the boy off of him so that they could climb out of bed.

Peter clambered off of Tony, quickly stooping to grab his two stuffies from the bed. Spidey had been wedged between them as they slept, and Moby had somehow found his way onto the floor. He stuffed them under his arms and took Tony’s hand to guide him to the kitchen. “Yes please, b’nana ‘n nutella.” He nodded, setting the stuffies down on the small kitchen counter.

“Coming right up, mister.” Tony chuckled, going to the cupboard to find the pancake mix. Working together as a team, the two of them soon enough had a generous amount of pancakes stacked on a plate as well as nutella and a small bowl of sliced banana. “You want your sippy cup, bud?” Tony asked. The sippy cups, sectioned plates and plastic forks and spoons were also new to Peter’s Littlespace since they had moved in together.

Peter thought for a moment, then nodded shyly. He pulled one of the plates set out on the table towards himself, and carefully slid one of the pancakes on the stack onto it. He reached for the nutella jar, and then made grabby hands for the bowl of banana that was on the other end of the table.

“Go easy on the nutella, babe.” Tony warned a little, suddenly regretting setting it down within Peter’s reach. Once he had fixed the sippy cup with milk and a cup of coffee for himself, he went to sit next to Peter and passed over the bowl of banana.

Peter made a general noise to show he had heard what Tony had said, and set about making his masterpiece. Soon he had constructed a smiley face out of bananas on the pancake, and turned the plate excitedly for his Daddy to see.

Tony could see from the corner of his eye that Peter was making something with his pancake, but didn’t turn to look properly until the boy was done. “Wow, look at that! You’re such an artist, baby.” Tony praised, leaning over to ruffle the hair at the back of Peter’s head and gave his cheek a kiss. “Almost a shame to eat such a masterpiece.” He added with a laugh.

Peter’s smile was almost as wide as the one on the pancake when Tony praised him, and he spun the plate back around to peer at it carefully. “Wanted to make it look like you, but... didn’t have anythin’ for a beard.” He mumbled, before shrugging and tearing off a piece of the pancake with his fork.

Tony chuckled at that before starting on his own pancake, putting some nutella and banana on it as well before taking a bite. They ate together peacefully, making some small talk about the day before and such, but once Peter finished with his breakfast, he started to get a bit impatient as always. “You said you got a card for me, bud? You wanna go get it now?” Tony suggested, giving the boy a task before he got really bored.

Peter nodded excitedly, darting off of his chair to run and grab his card and present. He had two cards for Tony, one that he had bought and filled out when he was aged up and one he had made secretly when he was in littlespace. He grabbed the littlespace one, and the present box from the hiding space under the bed before coming back and placing them both on the kitchen table for Tony to see.

When Peter returned and put a card and present on the table, Tony put his cup of coffee down and patted his knee. “Come sit on my lap, baby.” He requested, wanting to have his boy close. It was their first birthday celebration together.

Peter couldn’t hide his excitement at being invited to sit on Tony’s lap. No matter how many times it happened, Peter always loved being that close to his Daddy. It was like every day they were making up for lost time and lost contact comfort. “Open ‘em, open ‘em, open ‘em!” He grinned. “Wait, wait, wait! Card first, card first.” He grabbed the items off the table and thrusted them into Tony’s hands.

“Okay, you wanna read it for me?” Tony asked, wanting to hear Peter say the words that he had written. He opened up the card and held it up so that Peter could see. With his other hand, Tony held around the boy’s middle to keep him on his lap securely.

Peter smiled, one hand coming down to rest on top of Tony’s and the other hand holding the card. “To Daddy, happy birthday! You’re the buh- bestest Daddy ever, and I luh- I love you very very very much. Love Petey.” He recited, his voice a little slow as he tried to read his handwriting. His littlespace writing was a little more messy than his usual writing, but was still legible.

Listening to Peter read so sweetly made tears prick at Tony’s eyes, but he blinked them away swiftly. He bounced the boy on his lap and squeezed him to his side in delight. “That’s the best card a Daddy could wish for. Thank you so much, baby boy.” He said gleefully, smothering Peter’s cheek with kisses before adding. “And I love you very very very much too.”

Peter squealed in delight as he was bounced on the man’s lap, and tossed his head about to try and escape his Daddy’s ticklish kisses to his face. “Now the present, open it!” He said, pressing the small box into the man’s hand. He watched Tony’s face anxiously, trying his best to read his facial expressions to see whether he liked the gift or not.

“Oh, you’re so impatient, little one.” Tony teased with a laugh as he took the present. After some struggling, he managed to open up the wrapping paper with one hand and literally felt at a loss of words when he saw the logo of an expensive watch company. “Baby...” He smiled, almost feeling bad for receiving such an amazing gift. “You remember that my old one broke, didn’t you?” Tony asked with a grin, bouncing Peter on his lap again.

“Mhm!” Peter huffed a small sigh of relief when Tony’s face split into a wide smile. That meant he did well with the gift. “Saved my money to… to buy it, Daddy. Took ages.” He admitted, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. “D’you… D’you like it?” He asked, watching as Tony opened the box to reveal the sleek, silver watch inside.

“I _ love _ it, baby! You’re so sweet, gosh.” Tony said as he studied the stunning watch in his hand. It was not the same model as his old one, but Peter had still obviously picked something similar so the size and look still fit Tony’s look and personality. “You got your old man choked up, Petey.” He teased a little, trying to hide his emotional sniffle.

Peter’s face dropped in horror at that. “Nooooo, don’t cry! Didn’t wanna make Daddy cry, ‘m sorry!” He said, leaning up to kiss the man’s cheek over and over again. “No crying, Daddy, ‘s your birthday!” 

“It’s happy tears, baby, it’s happy ones!” Tony protested, his voice slightly shaky when he spoke. With the watch in his hand, he hugged the boy tight and rocked him back and forth in his arms.

Peter had never seen Tony cry before, so even seeing him cry with happiness was slightly alarming to Peter in his littlespace. He continued to press kisses all over the man’s face, and hugged him just as tightly back. “Y’promise it‘s happy? Pinky promise?”

“Whole _ body _ promise.” Tony chuckled, shaking Peter back and forth in his hold to emphasise that he was being completely honest. “Okay, okay, Daddy’s gonna pull himself together now.” He chuckled and sniffled one last time as he wiped his eyes.

Peter nodded emphatically. “Don’ wan’ Daddy to cry.” He said, reaching back to grab his stuffies off of the kitchen table and put them on his lap so that they were with him. “My stuffies say happy birthday too!”

“Aww, thank you so much!” Tony said, looking at the two stuffies and tapped both of them on the nose. “Did you guys help Peter with the card?” He asked the stuffies, but turned to Peter for an answer.

“Uh huh! They helped me think of what to write. I did the drawing though, look!” Peter said, turning the card over and pointing at the front of it, where a stick figure drawing of he and Tony was scrawled across it. “I even did your beard, you can see it!” He giggled.

“You’re so amazing, baby.” Tony praised, kissing Peter’s cheek before looking at the card again. “I’m gonna put this up on the fridge so I can see it every day. And I’ll wear this every day too.” He smiled and then held up the watch. “Thank you so much, Petey love.”

Peter smiled at that, his eyes crinkled at the edges and shining as he looked at his Daddy. “I- I have another card for you, it’s- I-” He stammered, and then held a hand up with his palm facing the floor, indicating that it was for when he was a bit more grown up. Usually when Peter was little, he didn’t think about being aged up, but this was important to him.

“Oh, I see.” Tony smiled, knowing what Peter meant. “Do you wanna go get that too or? It’s okay if you don’t want to.” He added, giving Peter the option to just focus on his Littlespace.

Peter shook his head. “Later.” He replied, looking down at his stuffies and wiggling their fluffy limbs about. “You know, me ‘n the stuffies think Daddy’s the prettiest.” He said matter-of-factly, looking up to see Tony’s reaction. “Pretty Daddy’s birthday!” He smiled, lifting his hands to squish the man’s cheeks together.

“Hmm, I remember you saying something like that.” Tony chuckled and then widened his eyes in surprise when Peter suddenly squished his cheeks together. “Petey’s the prettiest though.” He argued, his speech a bit slurred and grin crooked while the boy held his cheeks.

“Nuh uh! You!” Peter replied indignantly, and leaned forward to kiss the man’s now puckered lips. “Daddy’s prettiest!” He said, peppering the man’s face with kisses for a few seconds before sitting back. “I wanna play somethin’.” He pouted, dropping his hands from Tony’s face and twisting on his lap to look around their kitchen. #

“Okay, okay, you win.” Tony laughed and patted Peter’s back before letting him go. “How about you help me clean up and then we’ll find something to play with, yeah?” He suggested.

The idea of washing up had Peter pouting, but because it was Tony’s birthday he agreed to help. Together they gathered up the plates and cutlery and moved them to the sink, washed and dried them, and soon the kitchen was clean again. Peter took the man’s hand and tugged him impatiently into the tiny living room, whining quietly about wanting to play.

Tony barely had time to thank Peter for the help before he was dragged into the living room. They didn’t have much, and most of what they did have was bought from second hand. Still, Tony had never been happier in his life and it seemed like Peter was happy as well. That’s all that mattered to Tony. “Should we play with the legos? Or do you wanna do something else today?” Tony asked, already suspecting what Peter was going to answer.

“Legos! I’m almost done with my castle!” Peter replied, pointing over to where a half-made, oddly coloured castle stood on the carpet with various bricks laying around it. He flopped down on the carpet and patted the floor next to him for Tony to sit, his toes wiggling. That was always the best indication of when Peter was feeling little, his extremities wiggled almost constantly. “You’re king of the castle a-and… and I’m prince.”

“A kingdom all to ourselves.” Tony mused, going to sit next to Peter, but in a way so that he was leaning against the small sofa. “What sorta pieces do you need, bud?” He asked, taking the large plastic box onto his lap to help Peter find the right pieces to build his castle. The two of them had gathered an impressive lego collection after searching through all the second hand shops for bags of legos. But, for Peter’s birthday, Tony would absolutely get him a new proper set.

“Uhm...” Peter hummed, peering at his castle carefully. He ducked his head to view it from all angles, then sat back up. “Some of those small ones, please Daddy. Need ‘em for the... the towers.” He said, pointing the bits out so that Tony could locate some in the box.

“On it!” Tony said, saluting Peter like a soldier before diving into the lego box. After a few moments, he had a handful of the correct pieces and placed them where the boy could reach them. While Peter was busy with his castle, Tony looked at the new watch on his hand and started it, then fixed the time so that it was correct.

Peter snorted with laughter when Tony saluted him, but soon his attention was taken over by the construction of his castle. He reached out blindly for the pieces that Tony had placed on the floor for him, and mumbled under his breath as he worked. “Daddy, what would you do if you were king?” He asked mildly as he focussed on his Lego’s.

“Hmm... That’s a good question.” Tony pointed out as he thought of something. He would love to change a lot of things, but all that included grown up stuff, and neither of them wanted to talk about such things during Daddy and Little time. So, instead he suggested something much more lighthearted. “I’d make a law that says everyone has the right to as many legos as they like. So, then everyone can build whatever they want.”

Peter smiled widely at that. “That sounds so cool! You’d be the best king, Daddy.” He said, carefully placing a few more bricks on the top of the tower he was working on, and then scooching back on his butt to look at the castle from a distance. “If I was king, I’d make a law sayin’ everyone gets a stuffie. Then nobody would be lonely!” He said, looking back at the box of Lego’s to see what he needed next.

“And who’s idea was that?” Tony asked with a grin, remember that way back when he was Peter’s doctor at Rosewood, he had said that everyone should have a stuffie. That felt liked ages ago and Tony’s heart ached a bit at the old memories that brought up fresher ones about the trial and his prison sentence. However, in a way, it was all worth it to end up here with Peter.

Peter paused, looking over his shoulder to see Tony grinning at him. “Miiiiiine!” He giggled, his lie obvious even to himself. “It was my idea, Daddy, my idea.” He turned back to his castle, but the tips of his ears were bright pink.

“That sounds like a lie, you naughty boy.” Tony chuckled, poking Peter’s side to get a yelp out of him. However, he didn’t push the matter further and continued to find the pieces that the boy needed. Now and then, his gaze would fall on his watch and he would smile fondly.

Peter squeaked in surprise when his Daddy poked him in the side, and his hand came back to wave Tony’s hand away. He eventually kept his hand back so that Tony could place the Lego pieces right into the palm of his hand, and the castle was slowly but surely coming together. It even had a little gate that Peter was proud of, and two lego figures stood on the highest tower surveying the living room. “Look, Daddy, we’re- we’re on the top! ‘S our castle.”

“Overlooking our kingdom. That looks amazing.” Tony praised, ruffling Peter’s hair fondly. “How about a little break now? Should we go have a lay down?” He suggested, wanting to give his back a break from sitting on the floor for so long. “We can cuddle, baby.” He added to tempt Peter.

“Cuddles?” It was almost like a cartoon, the way that Peter’s ears perked up at the prospect of cuddling. “Wanna cuddle!” He said excitedly, scrambling up off the carpet and grabbing hold of his stuffies, who had been sat watching the construction of the castle from afar. “Big bear cuddles, Daddy.” He said, meaning he wanted to be the little spoon.

“Of course, little love.” Tony promised, watching as Peter scrambled to their shared bed with his two stuffies. Following the boy, Tony also got into bed and laid down on his side, opening his arms for Peter to join him. “C’mere, baby bear.” He invited, puckering his lips in a kiss.

Peter smiled brightly, but shook his head. “Nuh uh. You come here!” He teased, hugging his stuffies close at the other end of the bed and watching Tony with mischievous eyes. 

“Peter, Daddy’s here. Come on.” Tony coaxed, waving his fingers to get Peter to join him. “Lets not get naughty, yeah? Gimme some bear cuddles.” He smiled.

The boy pouted momentarily, but soon shuffled across the bed and wriggled to get into the man’s arms. The two stuffies were between them, and the boy sighed contentedly as his Daddy reflexively wrapped his arms tightly around him. “Daddy bear gives best cuddles…”

“Hmm, I’m happy to hear that.” Tony murmured, closing his eyes as he relaxed back on the bed with his boy in his arms. The older man had a shift at work later, and as shit as it was to work on his birthday, for now Tony was as happy and content as he could be with his love in his arms.

Peter also closed his eyes, and they stayed tightly cuddled together for a while. The boy dozed for a few minutes, and as he opened his eyes again he felt a little different than before. “Tony...?” He asked gently, his voice soft but definitely more aged up than before.

“Hmm?” Tony hummed in reply, not really opening his eyes, but moved his hand across Peter’s back to show that he was listening.

Peter smiled at the sight of his boyfriend being so lazy, and sat up a little in bed. “‘m just gonna go get your other card, is that cool?” He asked, repositioning the stuffies away from them for the time being.

“Yeah, sure, baby.” Tony smiled, noticing how Peter pushed the stuffies away and how his language and voice had changed.

The boy was definitely aged up, but he would still use ’baby’ as a petname no matter what.

Peter swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, standing on his tiptoes to stretch out his limbs. He groaned quietly to himself, and padded across the bedroom to where he had kept Tony’s birthday things. The aged-up card was written far more neatly, and was addressed to ‘Tony’ rather than ‘Daddy’. Peter clambered back into bed, and gently poked the man’s shoulder to get him to open his eyes. “Here you go. Thought I’d make two cards, you know?”

When Peter poked him awake, Tony rolled over and moved to sit up. He took the card with a smile and read it quietly. “... Love from Peter. Oh, baby.” Tony grinned and opened his arms for a hug. Now that they were both in their normal headspaces, Tony finally felt comfortable enough bringing something up. “You know, this has been the best birthday I’ve had in years. And I’m not just saying that! I really do mean it.” He explained, his voice carrying a hint of sadness.

Peter didn’t hesitate to throw himself forward and hug the man as tightly as possible. After a few seconds, he sat back and took one of Tony’s hands in both of his own. “I’m guessing you never celebrated birthdays often? You don’t really seem like someone who would.” The boy said, rubbing his thumb against the back of the man’s hand soothingly when he heard the sadness in his voice.

“Yeah, I just didn’t get the appeal. And then I got so into the psychiatry, that nothing else mattered. Especially personal stuff like that.” Tony explained, flexing the hand that Peter held in his. “But, it’s different now.” He said with a smile. “With you.”

That made a soft smile spread across Peter’s face, and he leaned forward to gently kiss the man’s lips. “I never really celebrated my birthday either. I mean- it’s only really fun if you have birthday parties, or people to celebrate with, and- I never really had any friends until high school. I can’t wait to celebrate them with you, though.” He admitted, and shuffled closer so that he could kiss the man again.

Tony hummed lovingly at the kisses and lifted a hand to stroke at the curls on the side of Peter’s head. “We’re just two loners.” He chuckled, pulling the boy into another kiss.

Peter laughed at that, and flicked the side of the man’s head playfully. “We found each other, though. That’s what matters.” He replied, swinging one leg over Tony’s so that he was now sat in the man’s lap. They continued to kiss for some time, Peter tilting Tony’s head up with both of his hands under his chin. The boy always loved their makeout sessions, as they were loving and lazy and just perfect.

“Ouch!” Tony yelped a little dramatically before laughing and pulling Peter close again and returning all the loving kisses. The boy was right, they had found each other and now they were together forever.


	2. Stressed Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what happens when peter gets too stressed to cope.

As much as Peter loved his new life with Tony, knowing that he got to wake up with the love of his life in bed next to him each morning, experiencing new things with him, not all of it was perfect. Both of them had to get jobs to be able to pay the utilities and expenses they needed to get by, and so that was how Peter found himself working part time at the local grocery store. Usually he tried his best to stay away from the customers and work in the back, but occasionally he was forced to work on the till and deal with snobby, entitled shoppers with their noses upturned at him while he rang up the prices of their food. 

Today’s shift was particularly tough, and he could _feel_ the exhaustion sagging his body as he unlocked the apartment door and entered the threshold, kicking off his shoes to one side and making his way to the living room. “‘M back…”

“Hey, I was just about to call you. Did that ass of a boss hold you back again?” Tony asked, coming over to greet Peter with a kiss to his lips. However, the boy wasn’t very enthusiatic about the kiss and the older man knew right away that something was up. “What’s up? Talk to me, Pete.” Tony prompted gently, rubbing his hand through Peter’s hair.

Peter didn’t speak for a moment, he just let the comfort of having Tony’s hand in his hair wash over him. When he inhaled, it was shaky, and he screwed his face up like he knew he was about to cry. “I- It was hard today, th- I had to be cashier, ‘n…. I didn’t get a break, so I worked the whole time, and people kept- they kept getting mad cos I did stuff wrong, and-” The boy rambled, before taking a deep breath. “Was bad, Daddy.” He admitted, his voice already climbing higher as exhaustion caused him to slip into his littlespace.

“Oh, baby...” Tony sighed when Peter recapped his day and continued to stroke his hair. But, when the boy’s voice pitched and that specific title came out, it was like a switch was turned on in Tony. He pulled the boy close and began rubbing his back. “Oh, I’m so sorry, baby boy. That sounds like an awful day you had. Shall we talk some more in the kitchen? I left you some dinner and I can heat it up for you.” Tony offered, knowing that getting some food into Peter was the biggest priority.

Peter nodded shyly as his face pressed against Tony’s chest, and made a small mewling noise of agreement. He wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and tapped his back, a signal they had developed for Peter to show that he wanted to be picked up and carried. It happened rarely, but stress was something that made him regress further than usual, and in doing so made him far more clingy.

“Oh, you’re my little boy, yeah? Up we go.” Tony said a little cheerfully while hauling Peter up into his arms. Despite his larger size, there was only so much carrying that Tony could do, but he could still do it for a few minutes. “I made us chicken and rice with that sauce you like. Does that sound good?” Tony asked, bringing Peter to the kitchen.

“Uh huh…” Peter mumbled, tucking his head in against the crook of Tony’s neck as he was carried to the kitchen. He didn’t outwardly protest when Tony placed him down on the kitchen stool, but he could already feel himself missing that contact comfort, even for a few minutes. “Stuffies?” He asked quietly, looking back out the door to where he knew he had left Spidey and Moby in the living room.

“You want Spidey and Moby?” Tony asked to be sure, and when Peter nodded, he went to fetch them. “But we’ll put them down once we start eating, okay? I’d hate to have to wash them, again.” He chuckled a little and then went to put the plate he had saved for Peter in the microwave. “You wanna talk to Daddy about your day?” He offered, coming up to wrap his arms around Peter while he was sat on the stool.

Peter relaxed once Tony’s arms were around him again, and he thought for a moment before ultimately shaking his head. “Bad. Dun’ wanna.” He mumbled, his thumb coming up to his mouth as he watched the microwave from across the kitchen. His other arm scooped Spidey and Moby towards his chest, where they stayed until the microwave beeped.

“That’s all right. We’ll talk about something else then. Or not at all if you want some quiet time.” Tony said easily, getting Peter a sippy cup of milk and placing it in front of him on the table. When the microwave beeped, he went to fetch the plate and gestured for Peter to set his stuffies aside. “All fluffy friends off the table now.” Tony announced, getting Peter a fork and knife too.

The boy gave his stuffies one last squeeze before placing them gently on the floor by his chair, then watched as Tony set the plate in front of him. He was starving, and immediately dug into the food as soon as he had access to a fork. He didn’t say much as he ate, but he smiled tiredly at Tony whenever they made eye contact. 

“Slow down, bud, or you’re gonna get a tummy ache.” Tony chuckled fondly when Peter seemed to stuff his face as fast as he could. “So, what would you like to do tonight?” He asked, pushing over the sippy cup so that the boy would have a drink too.

Peter slowed down only slightly, but took the sippy cup with both hands when it was pushed towards him. He paused, thinking about what he wanted to do. “Cuddles… ‘n… ‘n... dunno. Daddy.” He mumbled, fiddling with his fork as he spoke. “Wan’ Daddy.” He said simply, before returning to his food.

“Yeah, just you and me and cuddles.” Tony agreed with a nod and watched as Peter continued to eat his food. Once he was done, Tony picked up the plate and cutlery, setting them by the sink while Peter finished his milk. “Do you want to change into something comfier? Maybe one of the onesies?” Tony suggested since Peter hadn’t had the courage to wear one of the two onesies they had bought together specifically for little times like these.

“Yeah…” Peter nodded. “A-And… binky?” He added nervously, stooping to pick up his stuffies when he finished his milk. He bundled them into his lap and ran his fingers through their soft fur, finding the tactile sensation of it soothing as he watched Tony move around the kitchen.

“Of course. The one with the shark on it?” Tony asked as he rinsed the plates and cutlery before stacking the plates next to the sink to be washed later. “Come on, then. Lets get all cozy. Should we watch some Paw Patrol too?” He suggested, wanting Peter to have a proper little time and get to relax.

The boy smiled at that, and hopped off of the kitchen stool to follow his Daddy into the living room. He sat down on the lumpy sofa, and cuddled with his stuffies while waiting for Tony to get the onesie and binky that Peter wanted, and once he returned he stood up to get changed into them.

“Here we are.” Tony said and set the folded onesie and paci on the sofa. “Pete, I was wondering about something.” He started and then continued once he had got Peter’s attention. “Would you like to try the pull-ups too? You don’t have to if you don’t want to and you can always take if off if you want. It’s just that Daddy would love to see you in one.”

“Uhm...” Peter was midway through poking his head through his onesie when Tony asked him something, and for a moment stood with the onesie half on as he thought about it. “I- I dunno.” He answered, not looking too convinced about the idea. “I-“ Peter wanted to make his Daddy happy more than anything, but he wasn’t sure about wearing a pull-up just yet.

“That’s okay, baby. Maybe another time?” Tony said easily as well. As much as he would love to see Peter in pull-ups, the boy’s needs and wishes were of course the priority. After zipping up the onesie, Tony got the paci out of its clear box and offered it out to Peter. “Give Dada a kiss?” He asked with a smile.

Peter held still for the man to zip up his onesie, and when the paci was held out to him he briefly ignored it in favour of smothering kisses across Tony's face. He kissed his Daddy's lips sweetly, before taking the paci from him and placing it between his lips so that the cartoon shark design covered his mouth. He smiled around the pacifier, and pulled the man by the hand to sit down on the couch with him.

“Aww...” Tony grinned and snorted a little laugh when he realised Peter was giving him more than just one kiss. “There you go, handsome.” He smiled, passing the paci over and then went to follow the boy to the couch. “So, Paw Patrol, huh?” Tony asked, turning his laptop on.

The boy nodded excitedly at the mention of his favourite show, not hesitating to shuffle over to rest his head on the man’s shoulder when he sat down on the couch. “Puppies!” He grinned through his paci, scooping up his stuffies from the other end of the sofa so that they were now shoved into the small space between himself and his Daddy.

“Yeah, they’re fun aren’t they?” Tony smiled and put the show on before settling back to cuddle with Peter. “Give Daddy some good cuddles.” He instructed, leaning over to kiss the boy’s forehead.

As the theme song to the show played, Peter hummed along gently and shuffled so that he was almost plastered to his Daddy’s side, one hand curled up in the man’s shirt while the other held onto his stuffies. He giggled along to the show, but every so often he looked up at Tony to see whether he was watching.

When Peter finally seemed to settle and relax, so did Tony. 

He really hated that the boy had to work in such jobs that didn’t treat his mental health well at all, but they wouldn’t get by otherwise. And as sad as it was, they could hardly afford therapy for Peter, but Tony hoped that the frequent times spent in littlespace worked as a sort of therapy. In that state, Peter could relax properly and let go of any worries, so it counteracted the stress at the job very well.

Peter looked up again, and saw that Tony had a slight frown to his face. “Da, thinkin’.” He said simply, lifting his hand up to press the tip of his index finger against the man’s forehead. He could sense, even in littlespace, that the man was thinking about something. He leaned up and removed the paci from his lips so that he could get kisses.

When Peter pressed a finger to his forehead, Tony startled a little and looked down at the boy. “Sorry, baby, Daddy just got a bit lost in his thoughts. Do you need anything?” He asked, rubbing the boy’s arm where they were cuddled up together still.

“Kissies!” Peter whined, now ignoring the TV show on the laptop in favour of trying to get Tony to kiss him. “Wolfie kiss.” He tugged on the man’s shirt a little impatiently, and his paci laid on his lap.

“Wolfie kiss? What kinda kiss is that?” Tony asked with a chuckle and leaned down to kiss Peter’s cheeks, and then his lips.

Peter shrugged, but made a contented noise when Tony finally kissed his lips. He squirmed to sit on the man’s lap and to make himself as small as possible, curling his legs up so that he was almost in a ball. “Cuddles, Dada.” He babbled, and craned his neck up for more kisses.

“Yes, baby.” Tony agreed softly and spread his legs a bit wider so that Peter could sit between them. With one arm around the boy’s back, Tony used his other arm to stroke at Peter’s hair and kissed his forehead. “Such a good baby, so nice and cuddly.” He shushed, rocking them gently.

“Da cuddly!” Peter replied, placing the shark paci back in his mouth and smiling around it as Tony kissed his forehead. “Buh- Bear... Dada Bear...” He mumbled nonsensically as the very last of the stress from his day slipped away from him and he was finally relaxed, being rocked in Tony’s arms.

Tony frowned a little when Peter began babbling. The boy never usually regressed this far, but it made sense based on the stressful day that he had had at work. “Pete? Are you feeling little? Like a baby?” Tony asked, tapping the boy’s paci while he suckled on it so adorably.

A giggle bubbled from Peter’s mouth when Tony tapped on his binky. “Baby... Dada’s baby.” He nodded, blinking slowly up at his Daddy as he was rocked gently. He began humming the Paw Patrol theme under his breath again, but clearly wasn’t paying attention to the laptop. He preferred this, being in Tony’s arms and looking at him like he hung the moon.

“Dada’s baby, that’s right. You’re all mine to love and cherish and kiss.” Tony cooed, leaning down to kiss Peter’s paci before kissing his nose. “You’re so cute and adorable and soft and sweet.” He added, feeling his heart swell at the look in Peter’s eyes.

Peter squealed lightly with joy from behind his paci when Tony complimented him like that, and he pulled the paci out of his mouth momentarily so that he could kiss the man the next time he leant down. “Da... Love Dada, love Da most!” He said, his voice a little slurred as he spoke but clear enough for Tony to understand.

“And Dada loves you the most too.” Tony said back, grinning widely at how adorable Peter sounded in this baby headspace. He had never seen the boy like this and it could definitely be a sign of how far they had come together. Regressing that far took a lot of trust, and Tony sniffled a little at the thought before kissing Peter again. “You’re so cute, baby, my heart’s melting!”

Peter’s face scrunched up into a goofy grin at that, and he squirmed to sit up in Tony’s lap again. “Hear’!” He pointed at the man’s chest, where his heart was, and leaned forward to press an ear to that spot so he could hear the man’s heartbeat. “Comfy...” He added, a little quieter this time as he slumped forward against Tony’s chest.

“Hmm, can you hear it beating?” _ It beats for you _ , Tony thought to himself and smiled fondly when Peter slumped in his embrace. “You look tired, little man. Should we go get ready for bed? We’ll cuddle some more there, yeah?” He asked, kissing the top of the boy’s head.

The boy’s exhaustion seemed to hit him there and then, and so he nodded. Usually in littlespace Peter was desperate to stay up past his bedtime, but regressed this far, the boy didn’t mind. He wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and tapped his back once more, holding on tight as Tony hoisted him up off the sofa.

“Up we go!” Tony announced with a groan and laugh as he stood up with Peter securely in his arms. Once in the bathroom, he sets the boy down on the toilet lid and brushed his hair back. “Tell Dada off if he’s nagging now, but do you maybe want to give the pull-ups a try now? You know babies wear them all the time.” He explained while finding Peter’s toothbrush and wetting it before putting some toothpaste on it.

Peter paused, before slowly nodding. “Pu’-up, Da.” He said quietly, tapping his feet against the floor as he waited for his Daddy to get his toothbrush ready. His paci was held tightly in his left hand, and he turned it over to look at the cartoon grinning shark on the front of it.

“Then we’ll get you one. They’ve got some fun patterns, so you can choose which one is the coolest.” Tony smiled and tapped under Peter’s chin to get him to open his mouth to brush his teeth. Peter had a tendency to become a bit careless with the brushing of his teeth while Little, so Tony always made sure to supervise or do the job himself if need be.

Peter opened his mouth obediently, and giggled lightly when Tony began brushing his teeth. The texture of the bristles felt odd in his mouth, but he held still as his mouth began to foam with minty bubbles. “Shar’! Ah... nah, pu’ies!” He tried talking around the toothbrush to explain he wanted shark or puppy pull-ups, but his voice was garbled by his mouth being full.

“Just a moment, baby. First we gotta brush, then we’ll talk.” Tony chuckled as he systematically worked on getting all of Peter’s teeth cleaned. Once he was done, he tapped under Peter’s chin again and directed him over to the sink to rinse his mouth.

Peter spat the toothpaste out into the sink, tiptoeing to lean over it as he did so. He didn’t technically _need_ to tiptoe to reach the sink, but it was something he did subconsciously in littlespace, to help the fact he felt small at the time. A small droplet of toothpaste slid down his chin as he turned back to his Daddy. “Wan’ shark pu’-ups, Da. Puppy... puppy sharks!”

“I don’t think we have pull-ups with them both, but we definitely have ones with puppies on them.” Tony informed, taking the hand towel and wiping Peter’s mouth and chin. He then grabbed the chapstick and put a thin layers on the boy’s lips. “Okay, lets brush your hair now. Sit back down.” Tony instructed and pointed to the toilet lid again while he grabbed Peter’s hair brush.

Peter held still for the man to wipe his face clean and apply the chapstick, and then followed his instruction to sit back down on the toilet lid. Usually this process took a little bit longer than usual, as Peter built his confidence in littlespace and it thus became a challenge for Tony to wrangle him into one spot like this. In Peter’s baby headspace though, he simply felt sleepy and so was pliable enough to be moved around and cared for without complaint.

“Good baby.” Tony praised when Peter obeyed him without causing a fuss. Lord knows they’ve had some arguments in the past about bedtime. After wetting the brush a little to avoid electricity, Tony began brushing Peter’s hair gently and untangled some of the tangled up hair. After a moment, he was finished and leaned down to kiss the boy’s forehead. “Okay, can you go potty while I find you a pull-up and a t-shirt to sleep in?” Tony asked, knowing that Peter preferred to sleep in t-shirts and underwear at this time of year.

“Mhm.” Peter hummed, briefly standing up to flip up the toilet lid before sitting back down again. Sitting down while peeing was a lot easier for him to do in littlespace than standing. He went to the toilet while Tony left the bathroom, and then cleaned himself up and flushed the toilet just as Tony was coming back with a t-shirt and pull-up, both of which had cartoon puppies on them. His face split into a wide grin, and he made grabby hands for the clothes to put them on.

“Yes, yes, lets get you changed, baby.” Tony smiled and pointed to the big bed in the bedroom. “Go lie down now. Wait, where’s Spidey and Moby?” He asked when he noticed that the stuffies were nowhere to be seen.

Peter changed into his sleepwear astoundingly quickly, but when his stuffies were mentioned, he paused. His head whipped from side to side as he looked around the bedroom, not finding them anywhere. “Missin’! Da, find ‘em!” He said, becoming nervous that he didn’t have his stuffies to sleep with.

“Okay, okay. Maybe they’re cuddling on the couch still?” Tony thought since he remembered seeing the stuffies there last. “Go get them, baby!” He prompted and then chuckled softly as he watched Peter dash off to retrieved his fluffy friends. “Okay, we all good now?” He asked when Peter reappeared in the doorway.

“Cuddlin’ without me!” Peter said as he came back into the room, his arms filled with the two stuffies. He clambered back into bed and squirmed to get under the covers, and then expectantly held his arms out for Tony to join the hug pile.

“Oh, without you, huh?” Tony said sadly, pulling a frown that copied Peter’s as he padded back into the room. “Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked, holding up the pull-up with the puppies on it. “Do you want it still?”

“Mhm.” The boy dropped his arms for the time being, but made no attempt to reach for the pull-up to put it on himself. He simply laid on the mattress with his stuffies, watching Tony approach him with a soft smile on his face.

“Okay, you just lay back and I’ll fix it.” Tony assured and pulled the covers back so that he had access to the boy’s bottom half. “Dada’s gonna take your undies off now. Is that okay?” He asked, wanting to take this nice and easy so that hopefully Peter wouldn’t startle and jolt out of his headspace.

Peter squirmed a little bit, but then relaxed enough to nod his head and let the man pull his underwear down and off. He had never worn a pull-up before, despite Tony buying some in case of Peter regressing this far, and so the padded feeling of the material around his crotch when his Daddy put the pull-up on him was a little bit odd to get used to.

“How’s that? Is it too tight? Not too loose?” Tony asked as he taped up the pull-up, and then checked by running his finger just around the edges to make sure it was on snuggly. “You look so cute, baby.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss Peter just above his bellybutton.

“S’good.” Peter mumbled, but promptly dissolved into giggles when Tony’s lips brushed against his tummy. “Nooooo, Da, tickles!” He laughed, pushing his hands down to try and move Tony’s head away from his stomach. “Dada cute.” He said, smiling when his Daddy looked up at him from where his head was bowed near his stomach.

“Oh, I can’t help myself, baby. You look so yummy and so cute.” Tony whined a little before kissing Peter’s soft stomach again twice. But, before the boy really started squealing with laughter, Tony pulled back and went to lie down with the boy. “You wanna watch Paw Patrol while I go get ready for night night too?”

The boy thought for a moment, but then shook his head. “Stuffie cuddles…” He mumbled, bringing his two fluffy friends closer to his chest and peering over the top of them at Tony with wide, childlike eyes. 

“Yeah, okay, give your friends some cuddles.” Tony said and kissed Peter’s forehead before rising from the bed. “I’ll be right back, baby boy.” He assured.

“M’kay…” Peter watched Tony leave to go to the bathroom, before burying his face in with his stuffies. He hadn’t realised just how tired the day’s events had made him, because soon he was dozing off with his body wrapped protectively around his two stuffies. Soft snores emanated from his chest with every inhale, and he mewled gently as he squirmed to get more comfortable. He was soon fast asleep.

After a few quick moments, Tony was ready for bed as well and returned to the bedroom after checking that the front door was locked and that all the lights were switched off. “Hey, baby-” Tony was about to say, but then heard the soft snores coming from Peter’s mouth and smiled fondly. He came over to the bed quietly and then slipped under the covers as well, pulling the boy close to him, but being careful about not disturbing his sleep. “I love you so much, Pete.” He whispered with a kiss to Peter’s forehead.


	3. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the pair celebrate an eventful halloween together.

After finishing his shift at work, Tony had texted Peter on whether he needed anything from the grocery store. The boy had responded with a bunch of emojis, most of which didn’t make a lot of sense, so Tony knew that Peter was regressed.  _ ‘Be a good boy and tidy up before Daddy comes home.’ _ He texted back, hoping that the boy would do some of his chores still. 

Half an hour later, Tony arrived at the apartment with more groceries than he had originally planned to buy, one of which was a pumpkin. “Baby-” Tony barely finished calling out before he heard lightning fast footsteps coming towards him.

“Daddy!” Peter rocketed towards the man at the threshold, Moby held tightly under his arm. “You’re home! I missed you, me ‘n the stuffies thought you’d be gone  _ forever _ !” He squealed as he threw his arms around the man’s midriff. Moby was inadvertently dropped to one side as Peter squeezed Tony tightly. “Did you have fun outside today?”

“Hi, there!” Tony yelped a little when Peter suddenly crashed into him and tried to plant his feet more firmly to not fall over. He kissed the boy’s head and stroked his back while they hugged. Peter was clearly fully regressed, but he was still dressed in fairly grown up clothing. Perhaps he needed some help to change. “I did, yeah, and I bought us some fun stuff. It’s Halloween in a few days, right?”

Peter took a step back when Tony spoke. When the man mentioned Halloween, the boy gasped in excitement. “Fun stuff? What fun stuff? Hall’ween!” He said, trying to lean forward so that he could peek inside the shopping bags to see what Tony had bought.

“Have you ever carved out a pumpkin before?” Tony asked, trying to remove his coat and shoes while Peter was still clinging to him. He then picked up the two paper bags and brought them to the kitchen.

Peter gasped even  _ louder _ at that, and stumbled to pick up Moby and catch up with Tony as he moved to the kitchen. "I have! I did it once, did it with Ben, but I wasn't very good." He explained as the man set the bags down on the counter. "Hall'ween, 's spooky time!" He giggled, tossing Moby up into the air and then catching him.

“Well, we’re gonna give it a try together today.” Tony said with a smile, setting the bags down and started to unload them. Once done with one bag, he started on the other that held the small to medium sized pumpkin and set it on the kitchen table for Peter to see. “What do you think?”

“Woah…” Peter crouched down so that he was on eye-level with the table, and gazed up at the pumpkin in awe. “‘S gonna be so cool! ‘S gonna be spooky ‘n have a face, ‘n we’re gonna give it a face, ‘n it’s gonna be cool!” He rambled excitedly, reaching out to feel the knobbly texture of the pumpkin with his fingertips.

“What kinda face should we make on it?” Tony asked, getting some newspapers to put on the table to avoid a complete mess once they started the carving. He then leaned over to kiss Peter’s cheek.

“Goofy!” Peter said in response, hooking his fingers in between his lips and pulling them up and outwards to show his grinning teeth. He scrunched his nose up as well, and giggled at the pretend-horrified face that his Daddy gave him in return.

“That’s goofy? Looked more scary to me, baby!” Tony laughed, kissing Peter’s face once he stopped with his grin. “You’re a silly little boy.” The older man added. “How about you grab some paper and draw it? Then it will be a lot easier when we have a plan.”

Peter nodded, getting up to grab some paper from his art box in the living room. He came back with paper and a crayon, and then began drawing the face he wanted. He soon turned the paper for Tony to see, and drawn on it was a face with jagged teeth and wide eyes. “Wanted it scary instead. Spooky!” He said, pointing at the drawing with his crayon.

“Okay, then we’re all ready to start.” Tony said, smiling at the picture Peter had drawn. “Daddy will do the tricky parts at first and then you can scoop out, okay?” He said, grabbing a knife to make a hole at the top.

Peter pouted at that, but sat back on the kitchen stool to watch his Daddy cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin. “I wanna do the mouth!” He said as Tony carefully levered a part of the pumpkin he had cut out away from the rest of the pumpkin.

“Okay, baby, but you gotta be super careful with the knife. It’s very sharp.” Tony said as he continued to use the knife to make a larger hole at the top. “I’ll show you in a bit, just let Daddy do this part.”

“M’kay…” Peter rested his arms on the table, then his chin on his arms as he watched Tony work on cutting the top off the pumpkin. He wiggled his toes impatiently and fiddled with Moby in front of him until Tony gently poked him in the arm to get his attention. “I can scoop now?”

“Yeah, you can be my scooping master.” Tony chuckled, handing over a big spoon. He had already set up a trash bag by the table so they could throw away the insides right away. “Try not to make a mess, okay?” Tony said, coming over to help Peter roll up the sleeves of his shirt, then giving him a kiss and a ‘go ahead’.

Peter grinned, wiggling his arms to help the sleeves get pushed further up, before pulling the pumpkin closer to him. He stuck the spoon through the hole in the top and started to scoop the innards of the pumpkin out, but he couldn’t resist touching the insides with his fingers and squealing in disgusted delight. “Feels icky!” He giggled, dumping the innards into the trash bag next to him.

“Ugh, yeah! That looks really gross.” Tony agreed, scrunching his nose up as he looked at Peter scoop. To be honest, the older man was more than happy to let the boy do this part of the carving. After a while, Peter had gotten most of the innards out. “Do you want me to do the rest?” He offered since he could do a more precise job of getting the very last bits of the insides out.

Peter nodded, and handed the spoon over to Tony. His arms were beginning to get a little tired from bending in odd directions to try and get the insides of the pumpkin out, and he shook them out to try and stop them from aching. “And then I do the mouth!” He said, bouncing gently in his seat.

“Yes, baby.” Tony assured with a chuckle as he took the spoon. “Dry your hands a bit. You’re all sticky.” He added, nodding towards the papertowels that he had also set by the table.

Peter laughed delightedly and wiggled his fingers in Tony’s face, some remnants of pumpkin still all over his hands. He eventually took a paper towel and dried his hands as he waited for his Daddy to finish scooping out the pumpkin.

After a few moments, Tony had carved out as much as he could and set the spoon down to dry his hands as well. “Go get a marker, baby. It’ll be much easier if we draw on it before we cut it.” He pointed out, going to find a smaller knife for Peter to cut with.

The boy hopped off the stool and raced into the living room to grab a sharpie. He came back, this time with Spidey under his arm as well, then set both stuffies up at the end of the table so that they could watch him be a big boy and carve the pumpkin’s mouth. “Wan’ it like thiiiiis…” He mumbled, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he drew the wide, smiling mouth onto the pumpkin with his marker.

“That looks brilliant, pumpkin.” Tony smiled, watching the crooked and wide smile now on the pumpkin’s tough skin. “How about the eyes?” He asked, picking up the drawing Peter had made so that they could both see.

“Oh yeah, eyes!” Peter nodded, and went about drawing them. Soon, the pumpkin had a full face and the boy sat back to admire his drawing. “Scary pumpkin!” He giggled, pointing at it and looking back at Tony. “Mouth now?”

“Real scary, baby, well done. Okay, now.” Tony said, handing the knife to Peter. “Only cut away from your body, okay? Like this.” He demonstrated, moving his hand away from his body as if he was cutting the pumpkin.

Peter watched Tony do the action, but he was so excited to carve the pumpkin that he only really paid a little bit of attention to what his Daddy was saying. He took the knife and placed the tip on the corner of the pumpkin’s mouth, then slowly began cutting into the tough skin. He giggled excitedly as he went, changing angles every so often.

“Careful, careful...” Tony reminded right away, cringing just a bit at just how excited Peter seemed. Excitement was great, just maybe not while handling a knife. “Baby, slow down.” He added, but he was just a fraction of a second too late.

Peter had accidentally cut towards himself, and so sliced the tip of his index finger as the blade went through the pumpkin. He instantly dropped the knife, and tears welled up in his eyes as blood started collecting on his fingertip. “Da, I- I hur’ m’uh finger...” He whimpered softly, before promptly bursting into tears.

“Oh, baby, it’s okay.” Tony shushed, hoping to stop Peter from crying, but it was too late. Setting the knife away at a safe distance, Tony then grabbed a paper towel and wrapped it around the boy’s hurt finger to stop the light bleeding. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, baby. I got you.” He shushed, pulling Peter into a one armed hug.

Peter wailed in pain, and turned his head to bury it into the man’s neck as he cried. He hiccuped every so often, making his body jolt in Tony’s embrace as he tried to calm down. “Didn’ mean t’uh...” he said in between cries, his tears accidentally dripping onto his Daddy’s shirt as he buried his face into it.

“I know, baby boy, I know. It was just an accident, it happens to all of us.” Tony comforted and rubbed Peter’s back while he cried into his shoulder. Based on the quick look that Tony got of the injury, it was just a tiny cut, but of course it was much more upsetting to the boy in his regressed headspace. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

Eventually Peter’s wails quietened down to small sniffles, and he pulled his head away from Tony’s neck to look down at the cut on his finger. His fingertip was a brighter pink than the rest of his finger, but it was safely wrapped up in the paper towel that Tony gave him. “Don’ wanna cut anymore.” He said glumly, looking at the knife and the pumpkin like it had personally offended him.

“That’s all right. I’ll finish the face that you drew.” Tony assured, rubbing Peter’s back and kissing his tears away from his cheeks. “After I’ve patched you up. Just sit tight and I’ll get the first aid kit.” He said, rising from his seat to get the kit from the bathroom. When he returned, he found Peter still looking very glum and mopey. “Or how about some medicine, hm?” Tony suggested, opening the small freezer in the kitchen and pulled out a popsicle, offering it to Peter.

Despite being upset, the boy still made gentle grabby hands for the popsicle that he was offered. He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth, sucking loosely around the lemon-flavoured ice. He also let his Daddy wrap a small band-aid around his finger, with a kiss to make it better which Peter couldn’t resist smiling at. As Tony got back to carving the rest of the pumpkin, the boy watched him. “Da’...? D’you… miss bein’ a doct’uh sometimes?” He asked suddenly, remembering how Daddy had referred to the popsicle as ‘medicine’.

Tony stopped his carving for a minute, leaving the knife half lodged in the pumpkin. He then faced the boy as he thought of an answer. “Sometimes, yeah. Why do you ask, love?” He asked, curious to know why Peter was suddenly asking such things that had to do with their past, and even while regressed.

Peter simply shrugged in response. “I’unno. Maybe… maybe we can play doct’uhs one day, maybe. So you don’ miss it so much.” He said, peering down at his bandaged finger. He swirled the popsicle around his mouth and took it out when he spoke, but promptly popped it back into his mouth.

“Of course we can. If you want to, little love.” Tony assured, stroking Peter’s cheek with the back of his fingers gently. “But, you know that I would pick this life that we have now over the one before, okay? I’d much rather have you and not be a doctor, than not have you and be a doctor. Do you get what I’m saying, baby?”

“But…” Peter took the popsicle out of his mouth and held it in his hands as he looked at his Daddy. “You loved bein’ a doct’uh. You always did, you wan’ed to be good ‘n help people. You loved it so much.” He said quietly, looking to one side and then back to Tony.

“I did, baby, I did. But, you know what I love even more than that?” Tony asked, crouching down in front of Peter now that they were facing each other properly.

Peter blinked. It took him a few seconds to understand, but he slowly pointed at his own chest, looking wide-eyed at Tony to see if he was right.

“Exactly. You clever boy.” Tony chuckled softly, leaning over to kiss Peter’s cheeks, then his lips. “I love being here with you, every single day. Just you and me, here.” He said in a loving whisper. “Because I love you, Pete.”

Even though the boy was still glum about his injury, he brightened up when Tony kissed all over his face and muttered those sweet words to him. “Luh’ you too, Daddy.” He smiled, before looking over at the pumpkin. “Is it done?”

When Peter said the same thing back, Tony smiled widely before turning his attention to the pumpkin. “Almost. I still gotta make the last details and then we can test it out in the dark.” He said, grabbing the knife again to continue carving out what Peter had drawn on the skin.

Peter nodded, and watched the man carve up the pumpkin a little more happily than he had been previously. Soon the face was completely carved out, and Peter clapped gleefully at the almost grotesque face that the pumpkin now had. “Make it glow!”

“Okay, okay.” Tony laughed at how happy Peter seemed to be again. Popsicles seemed go have that effect. Grabbing a candle, Tony placed it in the now hollow pumpkin and then lit it. “Go turn off the lights, baby.” Tony requested.

Peter scrambled off the kitchen stool and headed over to the doorway of the kitchen to turn the lights off. When he turned back to look at the pumpkin, he squealed in delight at how the face glowed and flickered in the darkness. “Da look, it’s scary!” He giggled, coming back over to the table and crouching down to stare at the face intently.

“It looks super scary. You’re such a brilliant artist, baby.” Tony grinned, pulling Peter over for a hug where he was sat on the chair. He then helped the boy onto his lap properly so that they could look at the pumpkin together in the darkness. “I love you so much, Pete.” Tony suddenly felt the need go say, rubbing a hand up and down the boy’s chest.

Peter smiled softly when he was gathered up into Tony’s lap, and he turned his head to nuzzle his face into the man’s cheek. “Luh you mostest, Da.” He said quietly, before turning back to see the pumpkin again. “Hall’ween... trick or treating?” He asked timidly. He kind of knew that they wouldnt be able to go trick or treating, but he still asked.

“No, baby, I’m afraid not. We can put the pumpkin on the window sill, but we can’t go trick or treating. Besides, I bought us some candy already that we can enjoy.” Tony said, bouncing his knee as emphasis on the good news. Even though Tony was not Peter’s psychiatrist anymore, he was still persistent on the rule againt junk food and such, and that included candy.

Peter’s face pulled into an upset frown when Tony said they couldn’t go trick or treating, but that frown promptly disappeared when he mentioned candy. “You bought candy?! What kind, what kind, what kind?” He said, bouncing up and down on the man’s lap.

“Go see, baby.” Tony said, helping Peter down from his lap and pointed helpfully to the counter where the candy was still in the paper bag. “You can pick out 15 pieces after dinner, okay?” He allowed.

Peter rushed to the bag, and stuck his hand inside to see what the man had bought. “_After_ dinner? Want some before, pleeeeease?” He wheedled, as he tugged the candy out of the paper bag. He pulled his patented puppy dog eyes as well, and jutted his bottom lip out for good measure.

“No, baby. After dinner, like I said. If you have it before, you’ll get a sugar rush and then turn into a grumpy little boy. I don’t think either of us want that, hm?” Tony explained kindly.

Peter frowned, and kept a tight hold on the candy bag he had in his hands. “Want one now.” He huffed, his eyes darting over to the door and back to his Daddy.

“Daddy said no already, Peter. Put the candy back and then we can start on dinner together. Then you’ll get the candy quicker, okay?” Tony bargained, holding his hand out for Peter to hand over the candy bags.

Peter shook his head, and even dared to take a step back away from Tony to avoid handing the candy bags over. “_My_ candy.” He said, a small yet mischievous smile tugging on the boys lips as he eyed the kitchen door.

“Peter, this is your last warning. Hand over the candy, or I’ll take it and then it’s time out for you, mister.” Tony said, his voice more stern now. He also stood up from his seat and held his hand out expectantly still.

“Noooooo!” Peter whined petulantly, shaking his head. “Don’ wan’ time out, wan’ candy!” He sniffed, his smile now dropping from his face as he realised his Daddy wasn’t enjoying the joke. He fidgeted where he stood, not wanting to give the candy over but not wanting to get punished for it at the same time.

“Okay.” Tony said and was quick to grab Peter by his upper arm, pulling him closer to grab the candy. Even though it had been over four years now since working at a mental facility, Tony still remembered how to handle unruly people. Setting the candy on the counter, Tony brought Peter out to the hallway to their agreed time out spot.

“No! Nuh uh, no time out, no!” Peter cried, trying to fight the man’s grip as he was brought into the hallway. “No, Daddy!” He wailed, already starting to get upset as he was forcibly sat down in his time out spot, facing the wall.

“Peter, Peter, settle down.” Tony said calmly as he sat Peter down. He crouched down by him and spoke calmly again. “You’ll get five minutes in time out, then we’ll have a talk about what happened, okay?”

As moody as Peter was by being put in time out, he nodded mutely at the man’s instructions. He sniffed sadly as his Daddy got up and left him for five minutes staring at the wall. He rested his chin in his hand, and drummed his fingertips against his cheek while he waited for Tony to come back at the end of the five minutes.

After leaving Peter in the hallway, Tony glanced at his watch, the one the boy had gotten for his birthday, and made a mental note on the time. While waiting for the five minutes to be up, Tony tidied up in the kitchen and cleaned up the mess after the pumpkin carving. But, he would let Peter put the pumpkin on the window sill. “Okay, time’s up, buddy. Let’s go talk now.” Tony said as he came into the hallway and gestured for them to sit in the living room.

Peter nodded again, and pushed himself up from his timeout spot. He padded into the living room, and slowly clambered onto the couch with enough room for Tony to also sit down. He brought his knees up under his chin, and wrapped his arms around his legs.

“Good boy. You handled your time out really well. Now, we gotta talk a bit about what happened.” Tony said, making sure Peter knew what was happening, and also to praise him for the good things he actually did. “Talk to Daddy, Peter.”

Peter let out a shaky breath before he spoke. “I- I wanted candy before eatin’ food, ‘n I didn’ wanna wait. I only wanted a lil’ bit, didn’ wan’ all of it.” He mumbled, fidgeting on the couch. “Daddy didn’ let me, so I wanted t’uh take the bag myself.” He explained, glancing up at Tony every so often with wide, watery eyes.

“Good boy, good boy. You’re being so good for telling me.” Tony praised, rubbing Peter’s back. “But, Daddy said no and you will just have to accept that. I only want the best for you, and what’s best for you, is having the candy after dinner.”

Peter still wanted his candy, but didn’t argue against Tony’s reasoning. “‘N Daddy’s not mad?” He asked carefully, hesitating to take comfort from Tony rubbing his back until he knew that the man wasn’t truly mad at him.

“No, not at all, baby. I just really like it when you’re a good boy and listen to what I say.” Tony said, pulling Peter closer to himself. “Daddy doesn’t like putting you in time out, you see? I like it when you listen to me.” He added and lifted Peter onto his lap so that they were facing one another and could hug tightly.

Peter squawked in surprise when he was lifted from his fetal sitting position, but gladly wrapped his arms around his Daddy as he was placed in the man’s lap. “‘M sorry, Daddy...” He mumbled, his hands running up to the man’s head so that he could play with his hair.

“It’s okay, you’re forgiven.” Tony assured and patted Peter’s back. “Thank you for apologising. That was very good of you, baby.” He added, turning his head to kiss Peter’s cheek. They sat like that for a while so that the boy could calm down and gather himself again with the help of Tony’s comfort. But, then the silence was broken by Peter’s stomach rumbling. Tony chuckled. “You hungry, little man?”

“Mhm.” Peter nodded, also giggling at the sounds of his own stomach. “Wan’ food. We have pasta?” He asked, still running his hands carefully through Tony’s hair. It wasn’t as soft as Peter’s, but the boy still enjoyed playing with it and his beard.

“I think we can, yeah. Come on, then. You can wash the broccoli for me and then peel the carrots.” Tony said, helping Peter off of his lap and then guided him to the kitchen. But, before they could get to it, the boy seemed to be transfixed by the pumpkin still on the table. “Where should we put it, baby?” Tony asked.

The glowing of the pumpkin drew Peter’s attention, and he gazed at it in amazement. “I wan’ it... on the window, over there!” He pointed over to the kitchen window, that looked out onto their street. “People will get spooked by it, ‘s spooky pumpkin!” He giggled.

“Hopefully not too spooked though.” Tony chuckled and grabbed the pumpkin, placing it so that it was facing the street. Tony and Peter could still see its face though, since it was reflected in the glass. “Okay, little helper, lets make some pasta.” He said, giving the boy a playful swat on his behind to get him in action.

Peter was busy looking at the reflection of the pumpkins face, until the gentle slap to his behind brought him out of his stupor. He squealed in surprise and clutched his ass, turning and pouting exaggeratedly at his Daddy who was laughing at his reaction. When the man turned back around to reach for something in the cupboard, Peter dared to slap him gently back, giggling mischievously.

“Hey!” Tony yelped and growled playfully at the boy. This back and forth of playful slapping went on while they prepared dinner together and soon enough they were sat on the sofa with a bowl each of pasta with carrots and broccoli. “How about a scary movie while we eat?” Tony suggested with a smile. Usually, he was a strict Daddy, but he could still make some exceptions for holidays like Halloween and such.

“Scary movie! I wan’... I wan’ the- the buttons one.” Peter said excitedly, meaning Coraline. It was one of his favourite movies, but he had never watched in littlespace because Tony insisted it would be too scary for him. Seeing as it was Halloween though, that was his first choice. He shoved more pasta into his mouth.

“You sure, baby? It’s a bit scary and I don’t want you to have nightmares.” Tony said kindly, but Peter seemed so determined already that he wouldn’t listen. “Okay, okay, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” He said with a fond chuckle before finding the movie on Netflix and putting it on.

Peter clapped his hands excitedly as the opening scene came on of the little doll floating through the dilapidated window. He settled down to watch the movie, and was engrossed as he ate his pasta. By the time he finished his food, he had shuffled a little closer to Tony out of nerves. Coraline was now finally understanding the truth about the Other World, and at the point where the Other Mother started to show her true form, Peter flinched and turned to hide his face.

When Peter flinched visibly by his side, Tony paused the movie and was ready to have it end there too. But, then Peter gave him the saddest puppy eyes ever and Tony groaned out. “Okay, but how about we have a little break? You haven’t had your candy yet.” Tony pointed out. The boy could be so transfixed by something in his littlespace, only to loose all interest five minutes later.

“Candy and movie?” Peter asked, pulling those puppy dog eyes again to get what he wanted. “Wasn’t scared, Da, ‘m a big boy, promise.” He said.

“Hmm...” Tony hummed as he considered and studied Peter’s face. The boy seemed to be speaking the truth and so he nodded. “Okay, candy and movie then.” He allowed, offering his hand out to lead Peter to the kitchen to get his candy.

“Yay!” Peter grinned, and hopped up from the couch. He held Tony’s hand, giggling at how his small, delicate hand seemed to be engulfed by Tony’s larger, more calloused one, and they headed to the kitchen together to get their candy. “Da got candy...!” He whispered excitedly to himself as Tony let go of his hand to grab the candy bags.

“15 pieces. You wanna count them with me?” Tony asked and ripped up the two different candy bags open at the top. One was a normal mix of different candies and some chocolate, while the other was sour and with some marshmellowy candies. After grabbing a bowl for Peter to put his candy in, Tony held the two bags so that Peter could peak inside and pick.

Peter stood up on his tiptoes to peer inside the two bags. He stuck his hand inside and took a small handful of the first bag, counting out loud as he placed them in the bowl, then took a small handful of the second bag and did the same. “Th-Thirteen, fourteen... fifteen!” He said, holding up the bowl to show Tony proudly. “Counted ‘em!”

While Peter picked out, Tony counted in his head to be sure, but he also said some of the numbers aloud when Peter gave him a questioning look. “Fifteen! Well done, my smart little baby.” Tony praised, leaning over to give Peter’s cheek a kiss before finding clips for the two bags to prevent them from drying out.

Peter waited patiently for Tony to find bag clips, and once they were sorted out he held his hand out to pull the man back in the direction of the living room. Once there, he sat back down on the sofa and waited for his Daddy to play the movie again.

Once back on the sofa, Tony put the movie back on and pulled Peter close to his side just in case he got scared. And it turned out that very much true. “Hey, it’s okay, baby. It’s not real, it’s just a movie. It can’t hurt you.” Tony comforted, rubbing his hand up and down Peter’s arm where the flinching boy was tucked into his side.

“‘M- ‘m not scared!” Peter squeaked into the man’s side, his head slowly turning to see the screen but quickly flinching back into Tony’s side when Coraline was attacked by her performing neighbours. He whimpered gently, gripping onto the bowl of candy tightly in shaking hands.

“Hmm, you seem a bit scared though.” Tony said, leaning over to pause the movie again. “Baby, come on. It’s okay. Look at Daddy.” He coaxed, trying to see Peter’s face where he was half burried in his side and the sofa.

“Nuh uh!” Peter shook his head, further hiding his face. “Y-You’ll have buh- button eyes!” He whimpered, terrified that he’ll look up and Tony would have turned into one of the monsters of the Other Mother’s design.

“Baby, I don’t. Just look at me and you’ll see.” Tony spoke gently and shifted on the sofa to face Peter better. But, the boy just covered his eyes with his hands. “Peter, I promise. Just look at me. Please?”

It took him a few moments, but Peter slowly peeked out through his fingers at Tony. He was scared that his Daddy would have big, shiny black buttons in place of his eyes, but all he saw were his usual loving, deep brown eyes gazing at him. He gently moved his hands away from his face, and chewed on his bottom lip as he fidgeted on the couch nervously.

“See? It’s just your ol’ Da. No buttons anywhere.” Tony chuckled softly as he stroked the boy’s cheek gently. “Should we end the movie there?” He suggested and opened his arms for Peter to crawl into his embrace.

Peter took the invitation to clamber into Tony’s arms immediately, tugging them so that they wrapped tightly around his midriff to keep him safe. He curled up as small as possible in his Daddy’s arms and sniffled as Tony began rubbing his back.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Tony hummed to mostly himself, since Peter seemed to not be interested in talking. They remained on the sofa like that for a while so that Peter could calm down again. “Baby... talk to Da, hm? Tell me what you’re feeling.” He whispered while rocking the boy in his embrace.

“Was scary…” Peter mumbled quietly, his hand slowly coming forward so that the boy could suck on his thumb. “Was scared… Daddy was gonna be… be hurt by the buttons…” He admitted, his voice slurring as he slipped a little deeper than before into his headspace.

“Hmm, I get that, baby boy.” Tony hummed in sympathy. “But, it’s just a movie and it’s not real. So, the buttons won’t hurt me. Okay?” He added, rubbing Peter’s back still and thinking of all the precautions he had to remember when Peter regressed further.

“Don’ wan’ Daddy hurt…” Peter said glumly, squirming so that he could press himself further against the man’s broad chest with his thumb stuck firmly in his mouth. “Me ‘n stuffies be all alone… Nuh uh…”

“Hey, hey, shhh.” Tony shushed before Peter could say any further, but the former doctor knew that Peter was probably thinking much sadder and darker thoughts that he was voicing aloud. “Daddy’s here, I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here and you’re on my lap and we’re safe and okay.”

Peter nodded, and eventually stopped talking in favour of keeping his thumb in his mouth and letting the man rock him gently. He used his other hand to cling to Tony’s shirt, but he winced a little in pain as he put pressure against his bandaged finger.

To help Peter calm down, Tony started humming some songs that he remembered from somewhere. He continued to rock the boy as well and murmured some sweet nothings in between his humming. After a while, Peter seemed to sink in his embrace. “Should we get to bed, little one? Get into a comfy pull-up and then some pjs? Hm? Little Daddy’s boy.”

“Da’s boy…” Peter echoed softly. He nuzzled against the man as Tony lifted him up off the couch, but made a soft crying noise when he realised that his stuffies were still in the kitchen. When Tony looked at him in confusion, he pointed over in the kitchen’s direction.

“Ah, of course. Maybe we should have Moby and Spidey on a leash so we don’t lose them constantly.” Tony joked and headed to the kitchen to find the two stuffies on the floor. With some difficulty, Tony managed to pick them up while still holding Peter. “Woah... Okay, bathroom next.” He said, heading down the hall with Moby and Spidey in one hand and Peter in the other. Luckily, the boy was clinging to him so he wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

“Baff-woom…” Peter slurred around the thumb in his mouth, resting his head against Tony’s shoulder. The evening’s activities had left him exhausted, and so he didn’t object to Tony placing him down carefully on the toilet seat while the man got his toothbrush ready.

“Lets clean those teeth super carefully tonight.” Tony said, tapping Peter’s lips to get him to open up and remove his thumb. Once Peter did, Tony began cleaning the boy’s teeth, getting to every little nook and tricky spot before letting Peter rinse his mouth.

Peter toddled over to the sink, gently spitting out the toothpaste into the basin and rinsing his mouth. When he looked up, he saw Tony standing over his shoulder. “Da…!” He said softly, pointing at him in the mirror and then turning back to see him properly.

“And Peter.” Tony replied with a chuckle before leaning over to kiss Peter on his lips. The boy tasted faintly of mint. “Okay, chapstick next. We don’t want owie lips.” Tony said, taking the chapstick and applying it to Peter’s thin lips. “Now, can you go potty and then I’ll find you a pull-up and some pjs?”

“Mhm.” Peter went to the toilet while Tony left the bathroom to get his clothes. When he was done, he flushed the toilet and was in the middle of washing his hands when his Daddy came back with his onesie and pull-up. “Be’room?” He asked, pointing to the bed so that he could lie down and make it easier for Tony to put his clothes on for him.

“Yup, grab Moby and Spidey and lets get to bed.” Tony said, taking Peter’s hand again and guided him to the bed. “On your back, baby.” He instructed. They had done pull-up changes a few times now, so they were starting to get a routine to it.

Peter got onto the bed on his back, and wriggled about for a few seconds. “Tur’le?” He said, slightly garbled by the thumb he had since shoved back into his mouth, referring to how he was on his back much like a flipped turtle. He had Spidey under one arm, and he waited as Tony pulled down his jeans and underwear to put his pull-up on.

“What was that, baby?” Tony asked, folding Peter’s jeans and putting his underwear aside to be washed. He then tapped the boy’s hips to get him to lift them, then slipped the pull-up under him and taped it securely although Peter wouldn’t use it. But, Tony still bet that it felt nice to have it.

“Turtle!” Peter said, waiting for Tony to put his pull-up on before he began wriggling again. “Fuh- Flip! Tur’le flip!” He said, rolling slightly where he laid on the bed and bending his arms and legs in the air to prove his point.

“Oh, you’re a turtle on your back? Can’t roll over?” Tony chuckled and patted Peter’s pull-up once he had taped it up. He then leaned over in between the boy’s legs to kiss him. “You’re so silly, baby. Little, turtle baby.” He chuckled with a soft smile.

Peter leaned up to eagerly accept the kiss, and suddenly wrapped his arms around Tony’s back to pull him down onto the bed. He squealed as Tony landed on top of him, and giggled as he latched onto the man like a barnacle. “Tur’les gotcha!”

“Oof!” Tony laughed when Peter pulled him down and quickly he planted his hands on the mattress to stop himself from crushing the boy underneath him. “You got me, baby!” He laughed again, pushing himself up a little so that Peter rose up from the mattress where he was still clinging to his neck.

Peter squealed again as he felt himself suddenly being lifted from the mattress. He clung onto Tony’s neck even tighter, and wrapped his legs around his waist too just to make sure he didn’t fall. “Koala!” He said, grinning goofily at how he was wrapped around the man like a koala around a eucalyptus tree.

“Koala now, huh? We got a whole zoo in here now!” Tony laughed, pushing up even further and let Peter cling to him while he stood on all fours. Tony even tried swinging Peter slightly from side to side, but that didn’t really work before the older man’s arms began to tremble. Flopping on his side, Tony brought Peter towards him. “My little koala baby...” He hummed fondly, kissing the boy’s temple.

Peter didn’t let go of his Daddy even when Tony eventually collapsed onto the bed and pulled him close. He was in a far clingier mood than usual, due to the high emotions of their evening together, and so buried his face into the man’s chest. “M’uh Da…” He said softly as he gently drifted off to sleep.

“My baby boy...” Tony said just as softly and relaxed back on the bed while he stroked Peter’s back. He stayed in the bed for a while, making sure that the boy was drifting off peacefully. “Sleep tight.” He wished with a kiss to the boy’s forehead before carefully getting out of the bed to get himself ready to sleep as well.


	4. Tony's Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony has to be cared for, for once.

The first hint that something was wrong when Peter woke up that morning, was the fact that Tony was still in bed, fast asleep. Tony was the early bird out of the two of them, so the fact that he was still asleep made Peter frown a little. The sound of the man’s breathing soon filtered into his conscious thinking, and he realised that Tony seemed to be having a little trouble breathing in his sleep. The man snored a little bit, sure, but this sounded like there was something blocking his airways. He gently rolled Tony away from where he had ended up spooning Peter in the middle of the night, onto his back so that he could breathe better. He placed the back of his hand to the man’s forehead, and found it burning up. Tony was ill.

When Tony woke up, he felt rough. His head was spinning even before he lifted his head up from his pillow, and spun even faster when he did. “Oh, God...” His nose felt dry and blocked and his throat hurt every time he swallowed. At least he had the morning off, but that meant he had to head to work in the afternoon to do the evening shift. If he didn’t start feeling better soon, then he would have to call in sick.

“Hey, hey, Tones, settle down.” Peter said gently, pushing the man back so that he was laying back down with his head against the pillow. “You’re burning up, I think you’re sick.” He said, sitting up himself to get a better look at his boyfriend. He placed a hand on the man’s forehead again, and when it was still warm he moved it to card through his hair. “Want me to bring you some breakfast in bed? You definitely need something to drink, maybe some orange juice.”

“Oh fuck...” Tony groaned when he went to lay down again, sighing a bit when his head stopped spinning. At least a bit. “Can you get me some juice? And- and some ibuprofen?” He asked, his voice rough and low as he spoke. While Peter stroked his hair, the older man tilted his head towards the comforting touch.

“‘Course, babe. Stay right there.” Peter smiled, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Tony’s hairline. He got up and out of bed, and padded out of the bedroom to the kitchen. There, he made a little tray of things for Tony’s breakfast: a tall glass of orange juice, a couple of ibuprofen pills, and a bowl of porridge with banana and a dusting of brown sugar. “Room service!” He called out playfully as he carefully carried the tray back into the bedroom. 

Tony spent the time Peter was gone dozing and trying to remember how many sick days he had at work and how long he could potentially be away without losing too much money. However, it was hard to think properly when his head felt all cloudy. “Oh, lucky me.” He chuckled a little when Peter returned and tried to sit up a bit to have some of the juice and pills.

“Looks like you’re the one being cared for today, how the tables have turned.” Peter giggled, bracing a hand behind Tony’s back so that he could sit up in bed. As the man slowly ate his breakfast, Peter continued to run a slow hand through his hair. “Take it easy, yeah?”

Tony grumbled something in return before eating some of his breakfast. Being the one cared for was weird to say the least. “My shift starts at 3.” He stated once he was finished with his breakfast. The pills he had taken at first were starting to have their effect and Tony felt a bit better, but still as exhausted as ever.

“Maybe you should call in sick, Tones. I’m sure we’ll be alright if you take today off.” Peter said, carefully removing the tray of breakfast from the bed and putting it to one side. “You look exhausted, babe. You deserve the rest.” 

“Hmm...” Tony hummed in reply before sinking back on the bed. Peter was sort of right, but they would lose out on some money if he called in sick. However, he didn’t voice that concern to Peter. “When are you working?” He asked, stroking the boy’s cheek with his fingers gently.

“I’m not working today, remember? The manager’s had to close the shop, something about family priorities. It sucks cos I don’t get paid, but… that means I can stay here and help take care of you!” Peter said, his voice bright by the end of the sentence as he pulled the covers up to tuck them in around Tony’s sides. 

“Hmm, could we switch places? Like- restore the world’s balance or something.” Tony mused, his eyes falling shut as he relaxed back on the bed. “Because this is weird to say the least.” He added, hinting to their whole little/caregiver relationship.

The boy giggled, and brought his hand back up to scratch the man’s scalp again. “C’mon, Tony. You do so much for me, let me repay the favour just this once? You’re too ill to be a proper caregiver, so just relax. The world isn’t gonna stop spinning just cos my Daddy’s not gonna be able to make me my favourite pancakes today.” Peter teased.

Tony chuckled weakly and coughed a little to clear his throat. “Okay, I’ll call in sick later and then hopefully I can still make us dinner later.” He said, not entirely giving in to the whole sick role yet.

“You mean _I_ can make us dinner later.” Peter corrected, leaning in to kiss the man sweetly on the cheek before getting up off the bed. He picked up the breakfast tray from the bedside table, and briefly left the room to wash it up. He also made a quick stop in the living room to grab Tony’s laptop and its charging cable, before returning and climbing back onto the bed. “Here, so you don’t get bored being in bed all day.”

“Thanks, babe.” Tony smiled genuinely and took the laptop. Perhaps now he could catch up on some shows and such. But, he hardly got one episode in before feeling too tired to focus and shut the laptop before rolling over and falling asleep. The older man remained fast asleep for most of the afternoon and luckily woke up feeling better, but still too sick to go to work so he called in sick.

Peter spent his afternoon cleaning up around the apartment so that Tony didn’t have to while sick, but still popped his head through the bedroom door every so often. Seeing his boyfriend ill wasn’t something he was used to, and even though he had promised Tony that he would take care of him, he couldn’t help getting a little bit distressed. He slowly came back into the bedroom to see Tony dozing once more, and clambered back onto the bed. “Daddy…?”

Tony felt the bed dip over on Peter’s side and hummed lowly in the back of his throat to show that he was more or less awake. He opened his eyes slowly and stretched a hand out towards Peter. “What’s up?” He asked, seeing the frown on the boy’s face.

Peter took the hand gratefully and brought it up to his face, so that he could cradle his cheek against the man’s palm. “Don’ like Daddy bein’ ill…” He admitted quietly, watching the man open his eyes. He looked tired, and it made Peter upset.

“Yeah, I know, sweets. I don’t like being sick either, but it happens sometimes. Just gotta rest and drink lots.” Tony explained tiredly, letting Peter manouvre his hand to cup his cheek and stroked his cheekbone with his thumb. “What time is it?” He asked.

“Uhm…” Peter looked over to the bedside table, where the small alarm clock read 4:36pm. “Four… Four thirty.” He said, turning back to his Daddy. “Wanted to take care of you, but…” He pouted, and for a moment he was angry at himself for allowing himself to slip into littlespace even though Tony needed him.

Tony sighed a bit as he tried to remember what leftover, if any, they had in the fridge or if they could just get by with some sandwiches for tonight. But, then Peter spoke so pitifully that Tony turned to study him properly. “What? You’ve taken great care of me. You made me breakfast, remember?” Tony reminded and stroked Peter’s cheek again.

“But… wanted to do more, Daddy. Wanted t’uh… t’uh be good ‘n make Da all better, but now I can’t…” Peter sniffled, looking down at where his hands were now clutching at the duvet covers. “Was gonna be so good at… at carin’.” He mumbled, now truly upset that he couldn’t help his Daddy properly while in littlespace.

“Hey, baby, no tears for me. Come on.” Tony said fondly and opened his arms for Peter to lay down with him. “You’ve been amazing, baby boy. What are you talking about?” He chuckled.

Peter damn near threw himself into Tony’s arms, snuggling up to him as much as possible. “Wanted t’uh take care of Daddy like… like Daddy does f’uh me.” He explained glumly, resting his chin on the man’s chest and looking up at him with doeful eyes.

“That’s very sweet of you, and you have done that, baby.” Tony assured, rubbing a hand up and down Peter’s back. “Besides, Daddy’s all grown up, so I can take care of myself. But, you’re still very sweet for helping me still.” He explained.

Peter shrugged mildly. “Just wanted to be like Daddy…” He mumbled, turning his head so that his ear was pressed against the man’s chest. “Wanted t’uh.... t’uh be a nurse.”

“Aww, a nurse? You’re so cute, baby.” Tony cooed, humored by Peter’s adorable thoughts in littlespace. It almost made him feel better than the ibuprofen he had taken earlier. “Running around in pink scrubs and making sure your Dada is okay?” He asked softly, still rubbing at the boy’s back.

“Noooooo, my- they’d be _blue_, Daddy. I like blue.” Peter corrected. In his littlespace he often had phases of which colour was his favourite, and this week it was blue. “Blue ‘n… ‘n sparkly. ‘N I’d be the best nurse ever.” He mumbled, beginning to draw patterns with his fingertips onto Tony’s chest.

“Oh, of course! Blue scrubs it is. And yes, you would be the best nurse ever.” Tony said and hummed in content before thinking of something. “Would you like to play pretend nurse? And I’d be your patient? How does that sound?” To be honest, Tony really did need some caring for, so perhaps if they made a game out of it, Peter would be able to handle it.

At the idea of the game, Peter sat up off the man’s chest in excitement. “I’ll be Daddy’s nurse!” He grinned, clambering off of him and sitting to one side on the bed. He bounced excitedly on the mattress at the idea of getting to care for his Daddy, and lifted a hand to press it against the man’s forehead. “You’re warm… You need a-a-a drink!”

“Oh, help me, sweet nurse!” Tony said a little dramatically, bringing a hand to his forehead as if he was going to faint. “Okay, go get it then.” He encouraged, and now that he thought about it he really was in fact thristy.

Peter giggled at Tony’s joke, and scrambled to get down from the bed so that he could fetch the man a drink. He carefully poured a glass of orange juice, and held it tightly in his two hands on the way back to the bedroom. “Drink!” He said excitedly, coming around the side of the bed to where Tony was laying and presenting him with the glass.

“Thank you so much, nurse Pete. Just what I needed.” Tony said, sitting up against the headboard of the bed and took the glass. After finishing half of it, he turned to the boy again. “So, what’s next?”

“Uhm...” Peter pursed his lips, thinking hard. “Doctuh’... Doctuh’ said kisses. Kisses are best med-uh-cine.” He said, nodding sagely like it was real medical advice, and not something his littlespace had conjured up so that Peter could get kisses.

“Hmm, I trust your medical expertise, nurse Pete.” Tony chuckled fondly. “Does it only work if I give kisses or you give kisses? Or both?” He asked, leaning over to kiss Peter’s cheek.

"Doct'uh says... says both, to make sure it works." Peter said wisely, clambering up onto the bed and onto Tony's lap. He began pressing soft kisses all over the man's face, squeaking with happiness when his Daddy wrapped his arms around him. "Is it workin' yet?" He pulled back to see Tony's face, and tilted his head to one side in curiosity.

“Hmm, not quite yet. Try some more?” Tony suggested, grinning and humming in content when Peter began kissing his face again. “You’re such a thoughtful nurse, Pete. I feel so well taken care of.”

Peter smiled brightly at that, and went back to kissing Tony’s face but with more vigour this time. “I’ve got a secret, Daddy.” He murmured as he pressed kisses to the man’s cheekbones. “Kisses are only for my favourite patient ever, no one else gets ‘em.” He said, nuzzling his face against Tony’s before planting a kiss right on the tip of the man’s nose.

“What?” Tony asked in a whisper, keen to hear Peter’s secret. “Oh, so does that mean I’m your favourite patient?” He asked with a chuckle, moving his hands up and down the boy’s sides while he was still straddling him.

The boy nodded, giggling lightly at how Tony’s hands tickled him as they stroked up and down his sides. “You’re my favourite everythin’, Daddy.” He admitted, a flush of pink colouring his cheeks as he pressed another kiss to the man’s cheek.

“You’re my favourite everything too.” Tony replied and patted Peter’s back. As much as he loved the boy, his eyes were starting to drop as his exhaustion caught up with him again. “Can you cuddle with me? Daddy’s feeling sleepy again.” The man asked before yawning right on cue.

Peter hummed, sitting up on Tony’s lap as the man yawned. “‘M not supposed t’uh sleep when ‘m nurse... but for Daddy, okay!” He nodded, clambering off the man’s lap and lifting the covers so that he could squirm under them. “Big bear cuddles!” He said, lifting the man’s arm so that he could snuggle right up against his chest with his Daddy’s arm draped around his shoulders.

Tony hummed in reply as he was too tired to speak. After some manouvering, the two of them found a comfortable position and Tony rubbed lightly at Peter’s back. “Love you, baby...” He mumbled with a sigh before falling asleep again, his arm which was around Peter falling limp on the bed.

Peter could sense Tony slipping off into sleep, and so he pressed one last kiss to the man’s cheek before settling down beside him to also take a nap. “Luh you more, Daddy.” He whispered, and eventually fell asleep with a gentle smile on his face.


	5. Merry Christmas 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> christmas is approaching, and peter and tony decide whether they want to celebrate.

It felt like no time had passed before it was December, and with the changing of the months also came the holidays. Stores had put up their Christmas decorations in November, and as the first week of December rolled around, it was safe to say that everybody in town had gotten into the Christmas spirit. 

Everybody apart from Peter and Tony. 

It was difficult for them, as it was Peter’s first Christmas away from Queens. Every time he passed any festive decorations, the boy would purse his lips tightly and look away, like the sight of them offended him. Walking home from work was like that, Peter staring at the floor until he was safely through the threshold of his shared apartment with Tony. “I’m home.” He called out, kicking off his shoes and hanging up his coat.

“Hey, babe!” Tony called out when he heard Peter getting home, and peaked his head out into the hallway. “I’m prepping dinner. Can you help out a bit?” He asked his lover, not yet noticing the glum mood that Peter was in and how he threw his shoes off with some force. 

The kitchen smelt like tomato and garlic, and there was overall a cozy atmosphere while the older man cooked dinner. The radio was also playing some Ed Sheeran song softly in the back.

“Yeah, sure.” Peter shrugged, padding into the kitchen in his socks. The smell of cooking bolognase sauce hit him in the face, and his stomach rumbled loudly. The warmth of the kitchen also hit him, and after walking home in the freezing cold it made him shiver as his body got used to the sudden change in temperature. “What do you, uh, what do you want me to do?” He asked, scuffing the floor with his toe.

“Keep an eye on the pasta and then set the table.” Tony instructed, since he was dealing with the sauce. But, before Peter could get to it, Tony spoke to him again. “Wait! Give me a kiss first.” He said, puckering his lips out with a slight giggle.

Despite his upset mood, Peter couldn’t help rolling his eyes with a smile, and leaning in to kiss his boyfriend gently. “You’re a dork.” It was almost a miracle how quickly Tony could improve his mood just by being his usual caring, yet subtly goofy self. Peter then headed over to open the cutlery drawer and took out two sets of knives and forks. The twinkling lights from the Christmas decorations in town were still in his vision whenever he blinked, and it only served to make him more glum.

While Tony and Peter started to work together, the older man continued to be oblivious to the fact that the younger one was upset. After all, they didn’t really look at one another until the food was finished as they went to sit down opposite one another by the table. When Peter hesitated, Tony picked up his plate and gave him a portion. “You tired, babe? Was work bad again?” Tony asked as he tried to deduce what was making Peter look so upset.

“Hm?” Peter looked up from where he was poking sullenly at his plate of spaghetti, twirling his fork between his fingers and resting his chin on the palm of his other hand. “No, no, work was… work was fine. It’s just-” The boy then looked up, and when he was met with Tony’s concerned gaze, he sighed. “Christmas is soon.” He said simply, going back to poking at his food.

“Yes...?” Tony replied, frowning a bit at Peter’s statement. He tried his hardest to understand how that had made the boy so glum, but he didn’t quite get it. “So?” He asked, scooping up pasta with his fork and shoved it in his mouth. Both he and Peter were usually starving by dinner time.

Peter sighed again. “Never mind. I’ll explain later, I just- I just wanna eat.” He mumbles, finally taking a bite of his food. It was delicious, as expected with Tony’s cooking, but not even that could bring him out of his bad mood. He wasn’t up for talking, especially if Tony was so confused about what was making him upset.

“Yeah, okay.” Tony agreed. At least he was smart enough to stop pushing then and shut his mouth so that they could eat in peace. But, the silence quickly turned a bit awkward and Tony kept glancing up at Peter to check whether he was okay. While they ate quietly, the older man was starting to guess why Peter was upset about Christmas arriving soon, and his heart ached in his chest at the realisation why. But, he didn’t say those worries aloud yet.

Soon, the two men were finished eating. Peter rose from his seat immediately, and took both his and Tony’s plates to the kitchen without asking. He knew that Tony was going to ask what was going on, but for now the boy filled the kitchen sink with warm soapy water, and focussed on washing the dishes. 

Tony was hoping that after they had eaten, that they could still remain by the table to talk, but Peter seemed to have other plans. The older man followed the boy to the kitchen, placing a hand at the back of his neck and nosed at his hair. “Babe... Talk to me. I wanna help.” Tony said softly, squeezing gently at Peter’s neck. The muscles there felt tense, so that was another indicator of just how worked up Peter was.

Peter could sense Tony approaching him from behind even without turning to look, and shivered gently when a large hand placed itself on the back of his neck. “It’s just- This is my first Christmas without… without family. It’s hard seeing it everywhere, when I’m not- when I can’t see them.” He said quietly. Even when his parents were alive, Ben and May were always invited over on Christmas Day. As the years progressed, it had been even more important to Peter that Christmas was a time for his family, but now that he had severed ties with his last living family member, it was tough to say the least.

“Hmm.” Tony hummed as he listened, and continued to nose at the boy’s curls lovingly. Although, he did not share Peter’s perspective on the upcoming holiday. Christmas had always been a lonely time for Tony, so he hardly had any expectations for it now. But, clearly it wasn’t the same for Peter.

Peter finished washing the plates, placing them on the drying rack and drying his hands on a teatowel. He then turned so that he was in Tony’s arms, leaning against the kitchen surface. “It always meant so much to me but now… I don’t know. It’s different. It makes me realise how much I miss May.” He admitted quietly. He didn’t talk about May very often, as it was a sensitive subject for him even now, but he knew he had to be honest with Tony.

When Peter turned around, Tony opened his arms and pulled him into his embrace. “Yeah, I know you do.” Tony finally said to Peter’s statement about missing his aunt. His next question was a little crazy and daring in terms of whether Peter would snap or not, but still Tony tried. “Do you want to visit her?”

“I… don’t know. I’m not ready for that yet, I don’t think.” Peter responded quietly. He’d thought about it, late at night while Tony snored next to him in their shared bed. He didn’t know how May would react to seeing him though, or indeed if she even /wanted/ to see him after what had happened. “I’d rather stay here with you for it, this year at least.” He mumbled, nuzzling close to Tony’s chest. 

“Okay.” Tony said easily, and brushed back Peter’s hair before planting a kiss to his forehead. “I’m not much of a Christmas person, but celebrating with you sounds amazing, baby.” He smiled down at him gently.

“You’re not much of an /anything/ person.” Peter teased in response, tilting his head up so that he could kiss Tony on the lips properly this time. “We gotta do all the fun stuff. Getting a tree, the decorations, Christmas baking.” He said once he pulled back from the kiss, but then a thought occurred. “I’m- I’m sorry for… for not thinking of you as family. I said that this would be my first Christmas without family, but… I didn’t mean that as in my first Christmas without someone I cared about. Does that make sense? I feel like I’m over-explaining myself.”

Tony grimaced at Peter’s list of things to do, but only half heartedly and only to tease Peter back a bit. But, when the boy turned more serious again, so did Tony and met his eyes. “That’s all right, Pete. No harm done there.” He assured easily, since he hadn’t been offended at all. He knew where they stood in their relationship, and to put it simply, they were tight.

“Definitely over-explaining myself.” Peter muttered to himself under his breath, flushing an embarrassed pink. Even after all this time, the boy still had the habit of rambling until he ran out of air. “Thanks, Tones.” He said softly, tiptoeing up to kiss the man on the cheek. 

“Of course, Pete.” Tony smiled, turning his head a bit to catch a kiss from the boy’s mouth as well. The tension in the air seemed to evaporate while they kissed, and both of them breathed a bit easier when they pulled back. “So, uhm- what do you want for Christmas?” He started, laughing a bit at the fond, yet annoyed look that Peter gave him in response.

Peter rolled his eyes at that. “Careful, if you ask that again I might break out into song, Mariah Carey style.” He teased, turning back around to now dry the dishes that had been left on the drying rack. “By the end of this holiday season, you’re gonna know /all/ the lyrics to those cheesy Christmas songs. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh, fuck!” Tony laughed out, as if he regretted his decision to celebrate Christmas this year. After some playful bantering. the two of them started drying the dishes together and cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. While they did that, Tony couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious and unsure of the upcoming celebrations. He hadn’t done them ever considering his parents worked nonstop. However, he had no doubts that he would make it work with Peter’s help.


	6. Merry Christmas 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony and peter decorate the tree.

The first thing the couple did to get ready for Christmas was buy a tree. Not a real tree - they couldn’t afford to buy a Christmas tree only to throw it out a few weeks later, by buying a plastic one Tony argued that they could use it over and over again. They had also gone around the shops and bought cheap, tacky tree decorations, some of which were second hand. The plastic tree took a while to construct, but by the time it was standing in the corner of the living room, the excitement of celebrating the holidays with Tony had sent Peter down into his littlespace. He had even gotten into his bear onesie, and was humming Christmas songs under his breath as he toddled around the living room. 

Okay, perhaps Christmas wasn’t so bad, Tony thought as he watched Peter’s mood improve drastically over a few days time, which they had spent preparing for the holiday. Well, perhaps it was amazing even, he corrected himself when he found Peter in his bear onesie on the living room floor, looking up at the tree with wide eyes. The decorations were standing to one side in a box, and Tony came over to crouch down by the boy. “So, how’s the tree, baby?”

Peter was sat with Spidey in his lap, fiddling with the stuffie’s legs as he looked up at the tree. “‘s good… green…” He mumbled. His hood was pulled over his head, and his bear ears were flopping this way and that. “We duh- deh- we make pretty?” He asked, turning to look at his Daddy.

“Yeah, lets make the tree pretty.” Tony agrees and reaches out to grab the box of decorations. He sets it in front of him and Peter, looking at the boy. “Go ahead, baby.” He allowed. “You can decide how we make the tree pretty.”

Peter’s eyes lit up, and he leant forward to peer into the box of Christmas decorations. He pursed his lips, clearly in deep thought as he pulled out a few baubles and other decorations hanging from strings. With a quick glance over at Tony, the boy shuffled over to the tree and placed the first decoration on it: a tiny, wooden star painted red and dangling from a looped piece of string. “Firs’ thingy!” He clapped excitedly. It was always a big occasion for him when the first decoration was hung on the tree.

“That’s great! What about the next one? What should that be?” Tony asked, picking up some options for Peter and showed them to him. One was a white angel, another was a simple red ball, and the third one was a reindeer with a tiny red hat on.

“Uhm…” Peter hummed, but then giggled at the sight of the reindeer with the hat. He took it from Tony’s hands and gazed at it, a grin spreading across his face at how adorable it looked. “This one.” He nodded, sitting up on his knees to put the little reindeer a few branches higher than the first decoration. He then turned around to take the next decoration, a red bauble, and placed it a few branches along.

While Peter found a suitable place for the three decorations, Tony picked up three new one, hanging each of them on his fingers and held his hand up for the boy to see. They continued like so in comfortable silence, until Tony started humming ‘White Christmas’ under his breath. The older man didn’t realise what he was doing till Peter looked at him, clearly recognising the song.  
Peter faltered putting the next decoration up on the tree when he heard a low humming coming from his left. He looked over, and a bright smile spread across his face. He could tell that Tony wasn’t even aware that he had begun humming, but the boy helped him out by whistling the next part through his lips as he finally hung the decoration up. Once the decoration was up, the boy stood up on clumsy legs and padded to where Tony’s laptop rested on the couch. He opened it up and put on a Youtube playlist of old Bing Crosby Christmas songs.

“Very nice, Petey.” Tony smiled when Peter put on the playlist. Their little shared apartment was rapidly warming up with the Christmas spirit, and Tony was surprised to find that he quite liked it. Had he been missing out on something so special all this time? “So, what’s next, my little Christmas expert?” Tony asked, coming up to hug Peter from behind where he was knelt in front of the coffee table.

Peter laughed in delight when he was suddenly hugged from behind around the waist. “You make pretty, Da!” He said, tugging the man back over to the tree. He picked up a few of the Christmas decorations and held them up on his fingers, like Tony had done. He smiled, and nodded encouragingly when Tony looked at him, unsure.

Tony hesitated with the decoration. Suddenly, he felt like he was thrown back in time and stood at the front door to his childhood home, watching his parents leave for another trip. His classmates at school where all celebrating Christmas with their family, but Tony’s family was heading to work. Except for Jarvis. So, Tony had asked Jarvis his burning questions about the holiday his classmates seemed so fixed on. 

“What’s the tree for?” 

“It’s for decorating and such. People make them all pretty with lights and little ornaments.” Jarvis had explained kindly. But, no Christmas tree was ever set up for Tony to make all pretty. 

Until now. 

So, Tony was a little unsure, but Peter had made it look so easy, so he followed his example and hung the little angel on a free branch.

Peter, in his littlespace, was completely unaware of the battle going on in Tony’s head as the man took the ornament from him gently. Only when his Daddy hung it up on the branch did Peter make a delighted noise, and immediately thrusted his hand forward, which still had a few more decorations dangling from his fingertips. “Da pretty.” He said softly, glancing between the tree and Tony.

“Petey pretty.” Tony shot back and nosed fondly at Peter’s face before picking up another ornament to put on the tree. Now, he repeated the process everytime. Touch noses, take ornament, touch noses, take ornament. Peter seemed delighted by it as he giggled everytime Tony’s nose touched his.

Peter soon started hanging up his own ornaments as the same time as Tony, the two of them reaching into the same box to decorate the tree. Sometimes one would playfully move a decoration to its’ “right” place, which would cause a glaring match and then the movement of the ornament back to its original place when the other person wasn’t looking. Soon the tree was decorated, save for the star that had to go on the top. Peter picked up the star, and then held it out for Tony.

“Oh, no, that honour is yours, babe.” Tony said and before Peter could protest, he scooped him up into his arms so that the boy could reach the top. Although he had never really celebrated Christmas, Tony understood the importance of the star at the top of the tree.  
Peter whined, immediately wriggling in Tony’s grip. He shoved the star in Tony’s face, making it clear that he wanted his Daddy to be the one to put the star on the top of the tree. “You, Da.” He frowned.

Seeing the deep frown on Peter’s face, Tony knew that the boy was being serious and took the star from him with a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, baby.” He whispered sweetly, and then turned to fix the star to the top of the tree. It was a little hard to do so with one hand, but still Tony managed while holding Peter up to his side.

Peter clapped excitedly when the star was fixed to the top of the tree. His face was hurting with how much he was smiling, and the two of them watched the star twinkle atop the tree for a little while. The boy kicked his legs from where he was held up to Tony’s side, and nuzzled his face into the man’s neck. 

“Hmm, you’re so cozy, baby.” Tony hummed, but then groaned out a bit as his arms started to ache and he set the boy down on the floor again. “So, do you know what goes under the tree?” He asked with a puzzled look, pretending not to know.

Sitting back down on the floor with his back to the coffee table, Peter gazed up at the tree with wide eyes. For a moment, he hadn’t realised that Tony had said something, but then he saw the man looking at him expectantly. “Hm? Oh! It’s- presents! We do presents, Da!” He pointed to the bottom of the tree, with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, do you wanna go get them now?” Tony asked. He had actually just a few days ago caught Peter wrapping presents on the bedroom floor. Tony didn’t mean to sneak, he was just bringing in laundry, but he hadn’t seen what Peter was wrapping anyway so nothing was ruined in terms of surprise.

Peter nodded, and scrambled to get up from the floor. He sped to the bedroom, where he had kept his presents to Tony stashed away under a blanket in the back of their shared closet, and brought them to the living room. He dumped the small pile of presents in his arms on the floor, and pushed them under the tree. “No lookin’ til Christmas.” He said as authoritatively as he could.

“No peeking, no nothing. I promise.” Tony said with a firm nod of his head. While Peter continued to arrange his presents, Tony went to fetch his own and returned with his hands full as well. He then set them down to arrange them on the other side of the tree.

Peter had finished arranging Tony’s presents under the tree by the time the man returned with an armful of his own. The boy blinked in surprise. He didn’t expect that Tony would get him any, so when his Daddy started placing them down under the tree the boy couldn’t help scooting closer to watch him. He knew that he had said no peeking at the presents until Christmas, but he wanted to see what Tony had gotten him, and so inched closer and closer to try and poke at one.

“Hey, hey, no peeking and no poking!” Tony said and grabbed Peter to throw the boy over his lap where he was sat on the floor. The boy lay spread out on his legs and he leaned down to nose at him again, then kissed at his face. “I’m no Christmas expert, but I still know that we don’t peek at the presents.” He said, tickling the boy’s ribs a bit too.

“Nooooo, Daddy!” Peter squealed, wriggling on the man’s lap to try and escape his tickling fingers. “Wanna seeeeee!” He whined. He was soon distracted though, as he so often was in his littlespace, by Tony leaning down to kiss his face and his hands running up and down the boy’s torso.

“You gotta wait till Christmas day, baby!” Tony laughed, kissing Peter’s forehead once, then twice before straightening up. There was still a week left before that special day, and Tony really hoped Peter could last that long without touching the presents.

“Hmm… /fine/.” Peter said grumpily, his bottom lip jutting out into a pout. He also squirmed to sit up in Tony’s lap, and his pout soon turned into a gentle smile. “Legos?” He asked, pointing to the other corner of the living room where Peter had constructed a makeshift western town, with cowboys. He liked pretending to do cowboy shoot-outs with Tony, and so asked as an invitation to play with him.

“Of course, baby.” Tony said and got up from the floor once Peter had dashed off ahead. But, the older man paused a bit when he realised the Christmas playlist Peter had put on had come to an end. After some quick scrolling, Tony found another suitable playlist and put it on before joining Peter by his legos. And oddly enough, Frank Sinatra’s silky smooth version of ‘White Christmas’ didn’t ruin the cowboy shoot-out for Tony and Peter, despite the tones clashing completely.


	7. Merry Christmas 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony bake.

A few days had passed, and Peter was now entirely in the Christmas spirit. Not even the increased crowds at work could upset him at this point, as he thought about spending time with Tony once he got home. He had dragged the man around the grocery store to pick up items for baking Christmas cookies, and those items were currently in the kitchen cupboards. Peter, meanwhile, was dozing on the sofa, Moby cuddled safely in his arms and his thumb lodged firmly in his mouth. He had been in his littlespace for a few hours now.

Over the next few days, Tony was starting to get the hang of the holiday and caught himself more and more often humming some Christmas song. Once again, he was humming ‘White Christmas’ as he changed the tires of a car at a shop nearby. Tony had gotten a part time job there, which meant he worked some weekends and such there. Once his work was done, Tony said bye to his boss and then headed home. On his way, a few dainty snowflakes started to fall from the sky. It put Tony in a good mood in an instant, despite his exhaustion. 

“Baby, I’m home!” Tony called out once he had closed the apartment door behind himself.

Peter groaned quietly, blinking his eyes open from where he was dozing on the couch. “Daddy...?” He called back in response, rolling onto his back and pushing to sit up on the couch. His hair had become stuck up in all directions, and he yawned gently with the back of his hand covering his mouth.

Tony thought he hear something in response that resembles Peter’s voice, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Once he had peeled off his outdoor clothes, which had become a bit wet from the snow, he headed to the living room. He found his lover there, rubbing at his eyes. It wasn’t obvious yet what kind of headspace Peter was in, but he would soon find out. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Mmm… dreamt I was a mermaid… Moby was there, he was a big big whale… ‘n you were there, Daddy, you were mermaid too…” Peter had watched The Little Mermaid a few days ago, and so in his dream Tony had been King Triton to his Ariel. He pulled his legs back so that Tony had space to sit on the couch if he wanted to. “Good day, Da?” He asked.

Oh, so Peter was in littlespace again. The older man put on an easy smile and made his voice a bit softer when he spoke. “Oh, you did? That sounds like a nice dream.” Tony commented and moved to sit on the sofa, pulling Peter to his side and kissing his cheek in a greeting. “And yeah, I did. I changed tires on people’s cars so they don’t slip and slide in the snow and such.”

Peter gladly pressed himself up against Tony’s side when he was pulled across the couch. “That’s so smart, Da…” He mumbled. If Peter were to say that in his aged-up headspace, it would probably sound sarcastic, but in his littlespace the boy was completely genuine. “Me ‘n Moby tried t’uh… stay awake for when you come home, but then we slept.”

“That’s all right, baby. To become a big and strong boy, you need to sleep lots, so you just sleep if you’re sleepy.” Tony said, tapping Peter’s nose playfully. He didn’t add how Peter has a tendency to become cranky if he doesn’t sleep enough, and even more so in littlespace.

Peter giggled, and batted the man’s finger away from his face. He then crawled further to Tony so that he was now sat in his lap, facing him with a smile on his face. “What we gonna do today, Da?” He asked, reaching up to squish his Daddy’s cheeks together. Peter needed a lot of stimulation while little, as his attention span didn’t last very long and he hated being bored.

Tony chuckled when Peter squished his cheeks, but tried to keep his face relaxed so that he didn’t ruin the fish face the boy was attempting to make. “Hmm, I thought I promised someone we’d bake today...” He hinted, his voice a bit muffled as he spoke.

Peter gasped, dropping his hands from Tony’s face. “We gonna bake cookies?! Christmas cookies, we gotta bake ‘em for Santa!” He said excitedly, bouncing on the man’s lap with his hands now twisted in Tony’s shirt.

“Yeah? Is Santa getting all the yummy cookies?” Tony asked, placing his hands on Peter’s hips to steady him in case his movements became too rough. Although it was adorable, sometimes the boy could get overly excited.

“We bake some for Santa, ‘n then we get some. And- and we gotta leave a- a carrot too, for the reindeer.” Peter said wisely, placing his own hands on top of Tony’s on his hips. “We make ‘em all pretty, ‘n make Santa happy.” He said, looking over to the tree in the corner of their living room. It had one or two more presents added to it as the week went by, and Peter was itching to see what was there.

“Oh, now I understand. You’re so good at explaining all this to Daddy, you clever boy.” Tony gushed, pulling Peter down to kiss his face. The boy began squirming and giggling in an instant, almost as if he half heartedly was struggling. After a moment, Tony pulled back and ushered Peter off of his lap. “Okay! Show Daddy how it’s done, huh?” He said, offering his hand out to lead them to the kitchen.

Peter hopped off his Daddy’s lap and took his hand, before tugging him along to the kitchen. There, the boy began rooting through the cupboards to get the ingredients for the cookies. He had managed to find a simple cookie recipe online, and bought the ingredients based on that recipe. Soon all the items were placed on the kitchen counter, and Peter was peering at the laptop which had the recipe up on the screen.

Tony watched with a fond smile as Peter dashed around the kitchen, gathering all the ingredients. “So, what’s the first step?” Tony asked, peering at the recipe along with Peter. And so they started baking in sync, with Tony doing the harder parts like cracking the eggs and mixing the batter when Peter’s arms got tired. Meanwhile, Peter got to measure out the flour, sugar and such. “So, are we gonna decorate them?”

By now, the cookies were safely baking in the oven. Tony’s question brought Peter out of his focused gaze, where he was crouching on the kitchen floor staring at the cookies like watching them would make them bake faster. “Uh huh. Gotta make ‘em look nice for Santa.” He said.

“Hmm, we do. Pretty cookies taste better.” Tony chuckled and crouched down by Peter’s side. “Why don’t we clean up and then have some cuddles on the sofa while we wait?” He suggested, turning his head to see Peter’s reaction. He strongly doubted Peter would turn down cuddles. It was the only activity that could keep the boy in check for longer periods of time.

Peter looked back over at the suggestion of cuddles, and nodded excitedly. He wasn’t much help in cleaning up, as he kept getting distracted by watching the cookies in the oven, and so the chore took a little longer than it should have done. They were soon sat on the couch, Peter sat on Tony’s lap with his back to the older man’s chest while he sang Christmas songs under his breath.

Letting his head rest on the back of the sofa, Tony relaxed with a sigh while running his hands up and down Peter’s stomach gently. In his littlespace, Peter kept stumbling over his songs and forgetting lines, which was adorable, so he sang the choruses mostly. Tony tried to hum along with his eyes closed, and chuckled whenever Peter abruptly changed from one song to another.

Peter bobbed gently from side to side as he hummed to himself, trying to pat Tony’s hands where he could. He swung his legs backwards and forwards off the sofa, and soon found himself fiddling with his Daddy’s fingers. Eventually he was singing his own song about Christmas, humming nonsense lyrics to himself and making up the tune as he went, but every so often he turned back to look at his Daddy.

Feeling Peter turn in his lap, Tony opened his eyes and smiled gently at the boy. “You’re just making up your own stuff now, huh? That’s really cool.” Tony chuckled and continued to rub at the boy’s stomach. They sat like that for a few more moments, just humming some songs and enjoying each others’ warmth until the delicious smell of the cookies started spreading into the living room. “Let’s go check on the cookies, little man.”

“Yayaya!” Peter took off like a rocket from Tony’s lap, leaping up from the sofa and skidding into the kitchen. He crouched down in front of the oven, and his face lit up in delight when he saw the cookies had baked perfectly. “Daddy, they’re good, come look!” He said, his toes wiggling with excitement.

“Yeah? Those looks ready.” Tony said, studying the cookies and their golden colour on top. “Okay, now you go stand over there, buddy. Daddy has to do this part.” He said and pointed to a spot a few metres back. Neither want another accident to occur, like on Halloween.

Peter nodded, and hurried to stand at the other end of the kitchen. He watched with fascination as Tony put on the oven gloves and then carefully pulled the baking tray out of the oven. As the man set the tray down on the kitchen island, Peter took another step back to make sure he wouldn’t burn himself. “Cool down, then make pretty?” He asked, looking over to Tony.

“Exactly, you clever, little boy.” Tony said, leaning down to rub his nose against Peter’s, since the oven gloves he was wearing where still hot and he wouldn’t want to hurt his boy. “We can get all the stuff ready in the meantime.” He added, putting the oven gloves aside.

Peter scrunched his nose up in delight when Tony gave him a quick eskimo kiss. He then skipped over to look through the cupboards to find the icing mix, and the variety of sprinkles that the boy had managed to convince Tony to buy. He placed them triumphantly on the table.

“Okay, lets see...” Tony said, grabbing the cardboard box with the icing mix and read through the instructions. After a bit of trial and error, they got the icing to be the perfect thickness and everything was ready for decorating. The cookies had also colded down since Tony had placed them on a rack.

Despite not having decorated the cookies yet, Peter had already gotten icing sugar on his face and hands, but he didn’t seem to mind as he made grabby hands for the piping bag. His little tongue poked out between his lips in concentration as he carefully applied icing to the first cookie. “Da... did’ya ever make Christmas cookies? When you were lil?” He asked.

At Peter’s question, Tony paused. This was a touchy subject for the older man, so he debated quickly with himself whether he should change the subject or just lie to please Peter. But, that wouldn’t be fair to the boy, so he told the truth. “Uhm- no, I never really did. We didn’t really celebrate Christmas at home when I was younger.” Tony admitted, taking his own cookie to decorate to distract himself.

“Oh...” Peter paused from where he was putting icing on his cookie, and glanced over at Tony. “Why?” He asked softly, but quickly became aware that as he asked that, Tony’s face pinched in discomfort. The man had always prided himself on being able to keep a neutral face, especially in his therapy days, but since Peter fell in love with him he was easily able to tell when the man was hiding what he was really feeling.¨

Tony was quickly becoming uncomfortable with the conversation, but he soldiered on bravely despite it. At least by focusing on the cookie, he didn’t have to look at Peter’s eyes. He could tell by the boy’s tone that he was sad. “I don’t know, really. Well- my parents never said that we couldn’t, but they were never home during that holiday. It was just me and Jarvis at home.”

“Mm.” Peter was now decorating his cookie with an obscene amount of sprinkles, but placing each sprinkle individually where he wanted them to sit on the icing. “I remember you sayin’ Jarvis. He- He sounded nice.” He said, vaguely remembering a conversation they had years ago about Tony’s home life. It hadn’t lasted very long, but the name Jarvis rang a bell in Peter’s head.

“Hmm, yeah, he was always home. We had some really good times together when my parents were away actually.” Tony said, a sad little smile tugging on his lips. Glancing over at what Peter was doing, Tony realised that the boy was putting individual sprinkles on his cookie. “Baby, that’s gonna take forever.” He chuckled.

Peter looked up quickly when Tony addressed him, his gaze flickering between the smile on Tony’s face and his half-completed cookie. “‘M try’na make a smiley face, Daddy!” He explained, holding the cookie up to show him. “Gotta have all of ‘em in place.” He mumbled. “What’s yours?” He then asked, peering over to look.

“Ahh, I see.” Tony smiled, and then picked up his own cookie to show Peter. He had put icing on it in a spiral, and then added green and red sprinkles on top. “Just a spiral. What do you think?”

“Woahhh!” It was a simple enough design, but in Peter’s littlespace it was genius. “That’s so cool!” He exclaimed, peering closely at it for a moment. “Mines smiley, to make Da smile.” He said shyly, going back to add the finishing sprinkles onto the mouth. The smile was a little wonky, and the eyes were two different colours, but he held it up proudly once more.

“That looks so good, baby! Do you wanna give that one to Santa?” Tony asked, grabbing a cookie for Peter and another for himself. “What are you gonna make now?” He asked, grabbing the icing and started making some polka dots on the cookie.

“Nuh uh, ‘s for you!” Peter said, placing it down in front of Tony. He took the next cookie and stared at it for a few seconds. “I wanna... do a tree.” He decided, getting the white icing and covering the entire cookie with it as a background.

“Oh, thank you, baby.” Tony said softly, leaning over to kiss his temple before continuing on his own cookie. The two of them work in silence for a while, until Tony feels the need to say something. “You know, Pete, I was a bit nervous about celebrating Christmas with you at first. You know- since I’ve never done it before. But, this is nice. Really nice.”

Peter looked up once more when his Daddy started speaking, and his face split into a wide grin. “Yeah, it’s fun! Wan’ed Daddy to have fun.” He said. “‘S big... big for me. Christmas. Wan’ed to spend it with Daddy, cos- cos I love Da, ‘n I love Christmas. Da makes me happy, ‘n... wan’ed Da to be happy.” He explained as he clumsily drew a tree design in green icing onto his cookie. He wasn’t great at having long conversations like this when little, so it took a great deal of concentration for him to talk this clearly, but even then it wasn’t very clear at all.

Although Peter’s explanation was a little hard to follow, Tony still got the main points and grinned widely. “I’m very happy, Petey, thanks to you for making such a great Christmas for us. Daddy loved you very, very much, baby.” He added, looking adoringly at the boy next to him.

Peter smiled as he finished his Christmas tree cookie, then looked up to see Tony grinning at him. He tiptoed up to steal a kiss from his Daddy’s lips, and then bumped him with his hip so that Tony’s hand holding the piping bag was jogged and his next polka dot turned into a squiggle across the iced cookie. He giggled brightly, and shielded his cookie to stop any potential sabotage as revenge.

“Hey! Watch it, you!” Tony laughed at, not actually offended by what Peter had done. “Isn’t it so that naughty boys and girls don’t get presents?” He asked teasingly, poking Peter in his stomach.  
Peter gasped, and shook his head fervently. “Nuh uh, Daddy! Not naughty.” He insisted, huffing a breath while still shielding his cookie protectively. When Tony poked him in the stomach, the boy squealed with laughter and tried to bat his hands away.

“No, you’re Daddy’s best boy.” Tony said, dropping the icing to pull Peter in between his knees for a hug and kiss. “Santa’s gonna spoil you silly.” He added with a chuckle, kissing at the boy’s flushed cheeks.

Peter snorted with delighted laughter as he was kissed over and over again, his cheeks flushed with joy and his eyes scrunched up. “San’a give you presents too! Da get spoiled.” He said happily in response, nuzzling close to the man.

“Me too?” Tony gasped, pulling Peter closer to himself. “Must be my lucky day!” He chuckled and kissed Peter’s forehead again before pulling back a bit, gazing adoringly at the boy. “Merry Christmas, Peter.”

“Merr’ Christmas, Tuh- Tony.” Peter smiled back, looking over at the table which was covered in cookie crumbs and icing, and then to Tony once more. He knew that this was already his best Christmas in a few years, but he wouldn’t tell Tony that just yet.


	8. Merry Christmas 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> christmas day.

It seemed like no time at all had passed before it was the 25th of December. Peter laid awake in bed at 7:30am, listening to the soft snoring of his lover next to him, and despite the impending excitement of opening his presents and watching Tony open his, Peter still felt sad. It had been nine months since he had left Queens, with no contacting his aunt, and the guilt of leaving her alone for the holidays ate away at him. Before he knew what he was doing, he was climbing out of bed and fumbling for his phone. He still remembered May’s phone number off by heart, and so he dialled it into the phone as he crept out of the bedroom. Holding it to his ear, he waited for the phone to ring.

Tony slept soundly that morning, with memories from the night before, which was Christmas Eve, still playing in his mind. He and Peter had had a lovely night together. They had cooked a nice meal together, and then watched a few Christmas movies, and some old Game of Thrones episodes, on the sofa together while cuddling. It didn’t differ much from what they usually did, but still it was very much perfect. By the end of the night, Peter had slipped into little space for a bit, and so he wanted to set out the cookies for Santa, which they did. Tony wasn’t sure which headspace Peter would wake up in that morning, but it hardly mattered. What mattered was that they were together and celebrating the holiday in their own perfect, little way.

By the time the call ended, Peter’s bottom lip was trembling with emotion. He came back into the bedroom, to see Tony still fast asleep, and wriggled his way back under the covers. Even in his sleep, Tony opened his arms to accept Peter into them, and the boy gladly cuddled close. “Tones... hey. Tony.” He whispered quietly, pressing a gentle kiss to the man’s jawline.

“Hmm...” Tony was vaguely aware of Peter climbing into bed with him, but then quickly became more alert when he thought of something. “Did you open all the presents without me?” The older man asked with a low chuckle. His voice was all rough with sleep.

Peter shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry. I wouldn’t open ‘em without you.” He mumbled into the man’s chest. “I, uh... I called May just now.” He said nervously. “I- I felt bad about her being alone on Christmas, so... I called her.”

At that, Tony really does become fully alert and looks at Peter. “And what did you talk about?” He asked a little nervously, knowing that May Parker isn’t exactly a fan of him. He can only imagine the hell she would raise if they ever met.

Peter grimaced. “She, uh- She nearly hung up on me at first. And then she started crying. It was- It was bad.” He said, getting a bit emotional himself. “She eventually let me talk, though, and she- she said she misses me and... I said I miss her too.”

“Oh, babe...” Tony sighed a little, pulling Peter closer to himself, although it was possible to do so when their bodies were pressed together already. “So, what did you talk about?” He asked openly, his hand trailing up at down the boy’s back.

“She wanted to know where I was and- and that I was safe. I told her I was safe and happy, but I didn’t tell her where I was.“ Peter said, tracing patterns onto Tony’s pyjama t-shirt. “She was upset that I wouldn’t, but... by the end of it she understood. She even said that I could go back and visit, but I have a feeling that she, uhm, she won’t want you there.” He mumbled.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Tony chuckled, but kept it brief as not to appear insensitive towards Peter. “Uhm- did she say anything about me? Or did you?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“She, uh... She still thinks that you- she still doesn’t like you. But she said that if I’m happy, then... she’ll learn to live with it.” Peter explained. “At least she’s not actively trying to hunt me down and bring me back to Queens. She said that she thought about it, but I think she knew that I would just come back to you.”

“Yeah...” Tony chuckled again, but this time nervously. He squirmed a bit on the bed at the idea of meeting the furious May. She would surely tear him to shreds. “So, how are you feeling about that?” He asked, just like during the old days.

“Uhm... I dunno. I understand her perspective and why she would be angry, but... she didn’t know the whole story, and she still doesn’t. I’d like to see her again, but not before she doesn’t hate you.” Peter said. He pulled back a little so that he could look up and see Tony’s reaction, but still held onto him tightly.

“Baby, you don’t have to do that for me. You’re allowed to love your aunt even though she hates me.” Tony explained, and really meant it. Peter was in charge of his own life, and it wouldn’t be fair for Tony to hold him back. “Really.” He added, just to be sure Peter understood.

“I know, but... I- I don’t want to have to pick one of you over the other, you know? I’ve done it in the short term, but... I don’t wanna live without talking to her. I’m sure she’ll come around, she’s just stubborn.” Peter said, leaning up to press a gentle kiss to Tony’s cheek. “She said she’s spending Christmas with her work friends, so I at least know she’s not alone.” He mumbled, settling back against the man’s side.

“Hmm, I get that.” Tony hummed in return when Peter kissed his cheek, brushing back the boy’s curls. “And yeah, that’s good. I think in a way she’s happy you called, although she was really upset at first.” He pointed out.

“Yeah. It could’ve gone a lot worse, I think. She said that she still loved me, and that’s all that really matters.” Peter said finally. He sat up in bed and rolled over so that he could sit on Tony’s chest while he was still laid down. “I love you, Tones.” He said, tracing little heart shapes onto Tony’s shirt.

“Hmm, that’s true.” Tony hummed, then a smile tugged on his lips when he realised what Peter was doing. He placed his hands on the boy’s thighs, gazing up at him lovingly. “I love you too, Pete.” He said back, his eyes soft as he continued to study Peter on top of him. The older man felt his heart swell for a second when he realised just how in love he was with Peter.

Peter flopped forward so that he was curled up on the man’s chest like a cat, with his head nestled under Tony’s chin. A few minutes spent listening to his heartbeat, and with his Daddy’s warm arms wrapped around him, calmed the boy right down and allowed him to tumble down into his littlespace. “Da...? It’s Christmas!”

Tony hummed contently when Peter flopped down on his chest and moved his arms to wrap around him, tracing the boy’s bony spine with his fingers. Peter had done this before, so Tony recognised it easily as the boy’s attempts to slip down to little space. They had discussed the transition from one headspace to another, and they had come to that Peter could manage that well on his own.  
“Yeah, it is!” Tony said just as excitedly. “I wonder if Santa has visited...”

Peter gasped, and scrambled to sit up properly on Tony’s chest. “We gotta see, we gotta see! We get presents, Da!” He said, pulling at the man’s shirt and bouncing gently where he sat with his legs astride Tony’s chest. He turned to look to the door, like he was convinced he would see Santa standing there.”

“Okay, okay! Easy now before you crack Daddy’s ribs.” Tony chuckled, lifting some of Peter’s weight off of himself by holding the boy’s hips. Once the boy settled, he patted his behind. “Should we do some breakfast first or?” Tony asked, although it was a dumb question.

Peter hummed in thought. “Uhm... yeah. ‘M hungry, want toast.” He said, clambering off of Tony’s body and sitting on the mattress to one side. “We eat, ‘n then presents.” He decided with a nod of his head.

“Okay, baby, good choice.” Tony chuckled a little in relief. He was totally expecting Peter to want to open the presents right away, and then turn cranky later due to his blood sugar being so low. After climbing out of bed, they made their way to the kitchen and started making breakfast. To celebrate the special day, Tony also started making hot chocolate for Peter to have with his cookies that they made a few days ago.

Peter couldn’t decide which stuffie he wanted to bring with him to the kitchen, so he ended up shoving both under his arms and padding to the kitchen in fluffy socks. He occupied himself by singing more Christmas songs under his breath and playing with his stuffies while Tony made them both breakfast. Soon, a plate of toast was put in front of him, as well as a glass of milk, and the boy gladly pulled both closer to him and started eating hurriedly.

“There’s no rush, baby.” Tony pointed out fondly when Peter began shoving food into his mouth. “Take it easy, or you’ll get a sore tummy.” After that, Peter seemed to slow down a bit, and so they ate in comfortable silence. But, Tony could see that Peter was getting impatient. He pushed the cup of hot chocolate in front of the boy.

Peter’s eyes widened when a mug of hot chocolate was pushed in front of him. They /never/ had sweets in the house, not even stuff like hot chocolate, and so the boy was made even more excited. He took the mug carefully and drank from it, creating a frothy liquid moustache over his top lip. “T’anks, Da.” He said politely, his gaze flickering over to the door like he wanted to open the presents already.

“You’re welcome, baby boy.” Tony smiled back, shooting Peter a wink too. They both knew that such treats were a rarity in their home, but this was a special day and Peter deserved some spoiling. While the boy drank his hot chocolate, Tony drank his own coffee while munching on the cookies they had made.

Tony was still drinking his coffee by the time Peter had finished his hot chocolate, and he was now fidgeting with impatience. He continued to glance unsubtly at the door, wanting to get up and go to the Christmas tree, but he knew that it was impolite to run off while Tony was still eating. He tried to mask how excited he was, but he was doing a pretty poor job of it.

“You impatient, baby?” Tony asked with a smile. There was still a third left of his coffee in his cup, but he let that be for now. Grabbing his plate and glass, Tony brought them to the sink and gestured for Peter to do the same.

“Wanna open pwesents...” Peter nodded. He scrambled to get up out of his seat and bring his empty plate and glass to the sink, and tugged on Tony’s shirt sleeve. “C’moooon, we gotta see if San’a came!” He whined.

With Peter leading ahead, Tony followed a step behind as they made their way to the living room. The lights on the Christmas tree were lit, and next to it on the coffee table there was a plate and glass. The night before, Tony and Peter had put it out there for Santa with some cookies, milk and a carrot. After Peter had fallen asleep, Tony had emptied the plate and glass, leaving some crumbs behind for a more dramatic effect.

Peter caught sight of the plate as soon as he entered the living room, and squealed excitedly. “Daddy, San’a came! He came ‘n he ate the cookies!” He said, rushing over to see the empty plate. “D’you think he liked ‘em?” He asked, looking back at Tony, who was watching him fondly from the doorway.

“I think he loved them.” Tony replied, going to sit on the sofa close to the tree. “And the reindeer got the carrot, right? They must have been so happy.” 

Peter seemed to wiggle in content at that with a wide grin on his face that Tony couldn’t help but mirror. “So, should we give out the presents now?”

“Yeah!” Peter nodded, and toddled over to sit on the floor by the tree. He placed his two stuffies in his lap, and immediately reached for Tony’s first present to give to him. “Merr’ Christmas, Da!” He said brightly.

“Oh, thank you, baby.” Tony smiled widely, taking the first present that Peter handed him. It was soft, that was the first thing Tony noticed and smiled as he guessed what it was. After pulling off the bow and ripping off the wrapping, Tony grinned widely as he read the label which read ’100% wool socks’. Tony was at that age where socks excited him. “Ah! Now Daddy won’t have cold feet, huh?” Tony laughed, poking Peter with his foot where he was sat on the floor.

Peter giggled as Tony poked him with his foot, and squirmed where he sat to try and push it away from him. “They’re soft! Soft ‘n fluffy.” He nodded, watching as Tony set the socks to one side and leaned over to reach for one of Peter’s presents. The boy took the present, a tiny box wrapped up nicely, and peered at it. He quickly unwrapped it, and his face lit up as he saw the Paw Patrol design on a brand new pacifier. “Paci!” He said excitedly, showing it to Tony as if he wasn’t the one who bought Peter the present.

“Merry Christmas, puppy.” Tony smiled fondly. His heart beat a bit faster at the cheer excitement in Peter’s voice and how widely he was grinning. Once the boy had more or less recovered from the surprise, he handed Tony the next present. The older man took it with a ’thank you’ and opened the wrapping. Based on the neat wrapping on this one, Peter had been in his aged up headspace when wrapping it. “ACDC! Oh, baby, you know exactly what I like.” He cooed as he studied the special edition CD. “Thank you so much.”

The gift-giving went back and forth like that for some time, with Peter receiving a themed sippy cup, a brand-new soft blanket, and a few picture books. He also got a few DVDs and a thrifted box of Monopoly for when he was aged up. Meanwhile, Tony had gotten another pair of socks, a few more CDs of his favourite bands, and a few books (one of which was a book on parenting, which Peter had jokingly bought while aged up). There were only two presents left, one for him and one for Tony, and he pushed the gift for Tony towards his Daddy.

“Last one, huh?” Tony asked, picking up the last gift. This was one was hard, and a bit heavier, so Tony was careful while opening it. Turning the present around, Tony realised it was a mug which read ’World’s Best Daddy’. The older man laughed out and picked up the parenting book in his other hand. “Now I can enjoy my coffee in this while reading this!” He joked, watching as Peter flopped backwards on the carpet in giggles.

Peter nodded, rolling back and forth on the carpet in delighted giggles. He had worried that the man wouldn’t see the funny side of the parenting book, but knowing that he did put Peter’s mind at rest. “Best Daddy.” He said as he calmed down and sat back up in time for Tony to give him his last present. It was a small box, but made a rattling noise as he held it. He ripped open the wrapping, and made an exciting squealing noise as he stared at the Lego box, which had a picture of a completed Star Wars X-wing on it.

Tony had saved the best present, well in his opinion, for last and his cheeks hurt from how widely he was grinning as he looked at Peter take in his present. “Do you like it?” Tony asked, although he knew the answer.

Peter didn’t even answer with words at first, he simply got up and threw himself on top of Tony in a bone-crushing hug with the box still in his hands. He eventually started babbling excitedly, and pulled back to show Tony the box more closely. “Lookie, Da, ‘s got the ship ‘n ‘s got a lil R-2!” He said, pointing out the various features. He was vibrating with happiness at the gift.

“Woah!” Tony yelped out when he suddenly got his lap and arms full of an over excited little boy. He of course hugged Peter back, and kissed his temple too while muttering a ’you’re welcome’. “Yeah! I can see! Shall we build it right away?” He asked.

Peter nodded so vigorously it almost seemed like his head would fall off. “We build now.” He said, climbing off Tony’s lap to sit on the floor. He carefully moved everything off the coffee table to make space for the Lego box, and began opening it up and removing the small bags of Lego needed to construct the X-Wing. He looked up at Tony, and noticed that he hadn’t moved but was gazing at him lovingly. “Da?”

“Hmm?” Tony said, shaking his head to clear his head. All this happiness had triggered a sudden sadness in Tony, and his heart ached at what he, and in a way Peter as well, had been missing out on all these years. But, he didn’t ponder on it long and slid down from the sofa to join Peter on the floor. Grabbing the boy by his middle, he pulled him into a hug and peppered his face and neck with kisses. “Merry Christmas, baby.” Tony finally said, when they were both out of breath and grinning with flushed cheeks.

Peter’s face was beginning to hurt with how much he had smiled that morning alone, but he only smiled brighter when he was bombarded with kisses from his Daddy. “Merr’ Christmas, Daddy.” He said softly, pressing his forehead to the man’s for a few seconds before turning back to look at his new Lego set instructions. They spent the rest of the day admiring their new gifts, and by the end of the day Peter was convinced that it was the best Christmas he had had in a long, long time.


	9. Regressing In Public

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooop!! a year has passed without any updates sksk surprise!!

Peter and Tony very rarely got days off together, what with their jobs having conflicting schedules. As a result, chores such as grocery shopping often had to be done by one person rather than the two of them together. Seeing as they were both on an off day today, however, they decided to drive to the local mall to do their shopping rather than the nearby grocery store. Even though it was a chore that had to be done, the two of them still enjoyed being in each other’s company. 

The supermarket they were in was huge, and contained a whole manner of other clothing sections than just food. Peter spotted a toy aisle as he and Tony wheeled the cart down towards the food, and he could feel something stir inside of him. He tried to push it down, though, and focus on Tony was saying as he peered at their grocery list.

“How much milk do we have? I opened the new carton yesterday, but unless you drank the whole thing then I guess we don’t need another yet.” Tony mused and he leaned over the handle of the cart. He peered over at Peter for an answer when he didn’t get one immediately and noticed that the boy wasn’t listening at all. Peter seemed far more interested in something else. “Peter, you okay?” Tony asked, tapping the boy’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Hm?” Peter had slowed down a little when they passed the toy aisle, his gaze stuck on a Lego set that seemed to have his name on it, and when he turned Tony was a few steps ahead, looking back at him. “Oh, yeah, yeah, ‘m fine. What were you saying, sorry?” He asked, quickly walking to catch up as they continued their walk to the food aisles.

“I was asking how much milk we have. My guess is that we have enough for this week. Unless you’re gonna decide to have cereal for breakfast /and/ lunch. Again.” Tony said with a teasing grin, shoving playfully at Peter to get him in a better mood.

Peter swayed a little where he stood when Tony shoved him, and a light giggle bubbled from his lips. “‘S not my fault, you used up all the bread tryin’ to make french toast, what else was I gonna have for lunch?” He shot back, but he could tell that his voice was beginning to slur very slightly, the way it did when he was in littlespace. He pursed his lips hard, like that would stop regression from happening in the middle of the store, and tried to busy himself by looking at the shelves they were walking past.

The fact that Peter was slipping into littlespace went over Tony’s head for now, but to be fair to him, the boy was doing a good job at hiding. Tony laughed in return when Peter shot back at him and then pointed to the bread aisle, which they had promptly reached. “Go grab the one you like then. I’ll go find vegetables for dinner.” He said, heading off with the cart to the next aisle.

Peter nodded, and took a right to head down the bread aisle. It should’ve been easy, just to grab the loaf of bread he liked the most and then go to find Tony once more. However, looking at the huge shelf of bread overwhelmed him, and his toes began to wiggle in his shoes as he slipped down into littlespace. He didn’t know what to do, and glancing on either side of the aisle showed him that Tony had disappeared. He blinked rapidly as he stared at the huge shelf, and fumbled hopelessly with his hands. He couldn’t ask for help, because people would look at him weirdly.

It was only when Tony had gathered all the vegetables needed that he realised Peter hadn’t returned. Not thinking too much of it, he headed to the bread aisle and found the boy there, staring at the large variety of options. “Peter, what’s going on?” Tony asked, coming up and placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. If they weren’t in public, he would have kissed and hugged the boy, but that was hardly a smart idea considering their age difference.

Peter jumped when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder and turned him around. He looked up and huffed a sigh when he saw that it was his Daddy, gazing at him with a concerned expression. He opened his mouth once, then twice, but no real words came out. It took him a moment, but eventually pointed back at the bread selection. “Too many, Da...” he said, clearly overwhelmed by the choices, and overwhelmed by being in public while little anyway.

Oh. That was why Peter had been acting so strangely, and Tony felt like the worst Daddy ever for not noticing it sooner. “Okay, I’ll pick out for you. I think I remember which ones you like.” He said lightly, trying to not cause a scene and picked out a bread he knew Peter had at least eaten before. “How about we make this quick? Is there anything specific you want?” He asked, wanting to get out of the store as soon as possible and to the car where they would get some privacy.

Peter nodded at Tony’s choice of bread, and held tightly onto the side of the shopping cart as they headed down another aisle. “Uhm... juice. Juice ‘n... ‘n animal crackers.” He mumbled, his right hand still fiddling by his side as he resisted the urge to put his thumb in his mouth like he usually did when little.

“Okay, can you watch the cart for me then?” Tony asked, still resisting the urge to add ’baby’ to every sentence, but he knew that could turn some heads. He then headed just a few feet down the aisle to collect two different types of juice, one with pulp for himself and one without for Peter. He then returned and directed the cart towards the cashier and on the way he stopped by the cookies and cracker aisle. “You go ahead and pick.”

Peter clung onto the cart so tightly that his knuckles were turning white as he waited for his Daddy to come back with his fruit juice. Then, when they were in the cookie aisle, he looked nervously over at Tony before taking a few steps forward and picking up the cookies that were cut into fun animal shapes. He returned to the cart and gently laid the pack of cookies on top of the rest of their shopping, not daring to say anything as he knew his voice would be considerably more high-pitched and childlike than usual.

/Good boy./ That’s what Tony wanted to say, but he hardly could so he quickly thought of something else. “Great! Okay, lets hurry and get out of here.” He said and headed to the cashier, giving Peter some instructions quietly on the way. “Once it our turn, you can just head to the other side. If you feel like it, you can help me pack, okay?”

Peter smiled weakly when Tony praised him loosely, and together they headed to the cashier. He thought for a moment, but ultimately decided to stand at the other end of the conveyor belt to wait for his Daddy. He felt kind of bad for not helping him pack the bags, but the possibilty of the cashier talking to him scared him. He chewed on his bottom lip, and every second he had to wait he got more and more impatient and a little more overwhelmed by his surroundings.

Tony was more than used to doing food shopping on his own, so he made quick work of getting all their groceries in paper bags. He thanked the cashier and then went to join Peter. “Okay, lets head to the car down.” He said, setting the pace a bit quick, but still making sure the boy could keep up.

Peter hurried to catch up as they made their way to the car park, his eyes looking down at the floor and his feet shuffling as they made it outside and approached the car. However, a car alarm from a few spaces down suddenly went off, and the quick burst of loud noise made Peter flinch almost violently by Tony’s side. He pursed his lips again and screwed his face up, trying his hardest not to wail in shock at the loud noise.

Tony only flinched slightly at the alarm and turned to his head to look, but his attention was quickly drawn to Peter again. “Oh, baby... We’re almost there, just hang on.” He said, hoping no one was close enough to hear the pet name. With one hand on Peter’s shoulder, Tony guided the way to the car, letting Peter climb into the passenger seat while he put the bags in the trunk. He quickly then went to sit in the driver’s seat and looked at the boy worriedly. “Baby?”

Peter’s bottom lip wobbled as he finally got into the passenger’s seat of the car. He buried his face in his hands, and took a moment to try and steady his breathing as Tony packed the trunk with their shopping. “‘M sorry, Da… tried t’uh be big… ‘m sorry…” He mumbled, his face still hidden in his hands as he struggled to calm down.

“Baby, baby, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Tony assured quickly, leaning over as much as he could to wrap his arm around the boy’s shaking shoulders. “You were so brave and good in there. I know it was super hard, but you made it through, Petey baby” He added in a comforting tone and gently pried the boy’s hands from his face so that they could meet each others eyes.

Peter wanted to keep hiding his face, but eventually let the man pull his hands down so that they could see each other. The boy’s eyes were wide and childlike, with a small glimmer of tears hidden by his tearducts that threatened to spill over. “Saw toys ‘n… ‘n got lil, ‘n then… too much bread, too much…” He explained. Peter often found it overwhelming to be in public when regressed, and the added fear of people seeing and judging him for it meant that he never reacted well on the odd occasions that it happened.

“Yeah, I know, and I’m sorry for not realising sooner. I shouldn’t have asked you to get the bread when you weren’t able to.” Tony apologised, stroking at Peter’s cheek with his thumb while his heart ached in his chest. “Should we just go home? Then we can have Daddy and Petey time.” He suggested. The car was nice enough, but it would be best to just get home as soon as possible.

“Mhm…” Peter nodded, relaxing slowly into his Daddy’s touch. “‘M sorry… for not tellin’... was scary.” He admitted, his hands fiddling with themselves in his lap. He felt bad for trying to hide his headspace from Tony, and for thinking he would be able to get through the trip to the mall without mentioning anything.

“That’s all right. It’s hard when we are out and such.” Tony said, waving his hand lightly to show that it was all okay after starting the car. However, he didn’t specifically mention any of the awkward encounters they had had with some people after they had called each other by a pet name or been affectionate in public. They had quickly learned to keep it hidden in public, and the ageplay stuff in particular.

Peter sighed softly as the car started, and they were soon driving back home. “Da...? Wanna binky...” He said, looking over at Tony who was watching the road, then out his own window at his surroundings. He couldn’t wait to get home, as even being in the car where other people could see him was mildly distressing while the boy was in littlespace.

“I know, bud, we’ll be home soon. Just use your thumb for now, okay?” Tony tried to console while keeping his attention on the road. As much as he wanted to go a bit over the speed limit to get home quicker, Tony thought better of it. He had already been caught once by the police, and he didn’t want that to ever happen again.

Peter drooped in his seat sadly at that, but his thumb found his way into his mouth and he suckled on it gently as they drove home. It had some soothing effects, but not as much as his favourite shark binky. He gazed out the window, and soon they were back home at their apartment block.

“Okay, you wanna head up or stick with me, baby?” Tony asked once he had parked behind the apartment block. He turned to Peter and stroked his hair back. “Daddy can handle the bags, don’t worry.” He added with a chuckle.

“Stay with Da.” Peter said quickly. As much as he wanted to get inside the apartment, he wanted to stay with his Daddy. He always felt a lot safer with him, regardless of where they were, and so watched as Tony took the grocery shopping out of the trunk of the car. They headed up the stairs together, and Peter took the key to let them in as Tony’s hands were full. He waited until Tony had placed their shopping on the kitchen table to dart off and find his binky.

Tony chuckled softly when Peter seemed to dart off as soon as the door was open. He then headed inside and put away the groceries before going to find Peter still in his jacket and curled up on the sofa. His pacifier bobbed in his mouth fast. “Shh, it’s okay now, baby. It’s just you and me now.” He comforted. “Lets get you out of your clothes and into something comfier.”

Peter looked up when Tony came back, his eyes crinkling as he smiled around his pacifier. He took Tony’s hand and stood up from the sofa, letting the man guide him to the bedroom. As Tony went to their shared wardrobe, Peter clambered onto the bed and sat cross legged while he waited for Tony to pull out one of his fluffy onesies. “Ears, Da!” He said, holding his hands up by his head to form animal ears. There was a onesie that Peter enjoyed wearing that had soft bear ears on the top, and when the boy was little he loved flopping his head about to make the ears move.

“The bear one?” Tony asked with a grin, picking out the bear onesie and holding it up for Peter to see. “Okay, lets get you out of this.” He said, helping the boy get out of his normal clothes and then into the onesie. After zipping it up and flicking the hood over Peter’s head, he finished by giving the boy’s pacifier a kiss. “Is that better, baby bear?”

Peter held still enough for the onesie to be put on him, but once it was on he immediately began wriggling about. He shook his head from side to side, letting the ears flop about on the hood, and then a bright smile shone through his paci. “Da bear!” He said, spreading his arms wide for a hug.

“Daddy bear, yes!” Tony grinned and practically body slammed Peter back on the bed and began tickling the boy. “My little, squeaky bear cub!” He laughed, switching the places where he was tickling before the boy could swat his hands away.  
Peter wasn’t expecting to be tickled, so he almost screamed in surprise when he was suddenly forced backwards onto the bed and his Daddy started attacking him with tickles. “N-Ahaha! Noooo, wolfie no!” He squealed, momentarily forgetting his ‘bear’ obsession as he writhed under Tony’s hands.

“Oh! Wolfie’s gonna have little bear cub for dinner tonite!” Tony laughed and continued to attach Peter’s ribs, under his arms and on his tummy. He even made animated chewing noises as he nosed at the boy’s neck and cheeks.

Peter laughed loudly at that, his hands flailing wildly as he tried to push Tony off of him. “No eatin’, no eatin’, no eatin’!” He giggled, one hand coming up to Tony’s hair to try and push his head up away from his neck, but to little effect.

“Yes, yes, yes! I’m going to eat your little fingers and then your little toes, and then all of you!” Tony said with his ‘Wolfie’ voice, which was lower to his normal one and sounded more growling. “You’re so yummy, I can’t help it!”

Peter tried to squirm onto his front so that he could try and crawl away, but before he managed to move even an inch up the bed Tony was on him again and tickling his ribs. “Wolfie no, no eatin’! Nooooo!” He giggled, quickly becoming tired at how much he was having to wriggle about on the bed.

When Tony noticed that Peter was fighting back less and seemed very much out of breath, he finally stopped and pulled away. “Okay, maybe I wouldn’t eat you.” Tony said, huffing out a laugh as he had also gotten a little out of breath. “Maybe not today at least.” He added with a playful growl and poked at the boy’s behind when he squirmed on the bed.

Peter squeaked and covered his ass with his hands when Tony poked him. He rolled back onto his back and glared playfully at the man. “No eatin’.” He tried to act as serious as possible, but the look that Tony was giving him only made him burst into giggles again.

“No eating, today.” Tony corrected and gave Peter’s ass another playful poke. “Or could we eat lunch maybe?” He suggested after glancing at his watch and seeing that it was about lunch time. Besides, Tony was hungry. “And no cereal.”

“Awh... want cereal.” Peter pouted, but nodded at the suggestion of lunch and sat up on the bed. “Da make grilled cheese?” He asked, his toes already wiggling as a sign of deep littlespace as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed and stood up.  
“Yeah, that we can make.” Tony allowed, offering his hand out to Peter and brought the boy to the kitchen. “You want your special plate and cup?” He asked once in the kitchen and began getting the necessary ingredients for their lunch.

Peter thought for a moment, before nodding shyly. He hopped up on the kitchen stool, and watched Tony move around the kitchen. Seeing his Daddy care for him so well finally pushed away the last of the anxiety from regressing in public, and he settled comfortably to spend the rest of the day with his Daddy.


End file.
